


You get used to it

by boothnat



Series: The Crew make their way home [1]
Category: Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead, The Persistence
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-30
Updated: 2020-06-30
Packaged: 2021-03-04 01:20:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 20,463
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24995284
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/boothnat/pseuds/boothnat
Summary: Security Officer Zimri Eder has gone through hell. She and Engineer Serena Karim barely managed to escape the Black Hole- losing many friends along the way. But now, they're out. They were supposed to be home free. Sure, there would be problems- being a clone of a person who is still alive tends to cause those.Neither of them expected this. This- this isn't their Earth.
Series: The Crew make their way home [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1829866
Comments: 2
Kudos: 2





	1. Chapter 1

_“Zimri? Are you there?”_

“Yes.” She answered.

“ _Good! I’ve passed over most of the ship’s functions to Iris- she should be able to keep it running. I’ll be printing a body right-“_

Her voice cut off.

Moments later- Serena stumbled out of the cloner, wearing the D4 Survival Erebus suit, a harvester by her side. She fell to all fours and let out a gasp.

Zimri kneeled beside her. “Sorry-“ Serana sputtered out. “It’s- been a while.”

“It’s alright.” Zimri answered. “Take your time.” She pulled over a chair- brought over from the Research Deck by her after the jump, and helped Serena into it.

Serena had printed a solid body for herself- carrying all the upgrades Zimri had acquired over the course of the- incident. Enhanced muscle mass and body structure, flawless dark-matter balance, and a relatively youthful face- everyone on board The Persistence had looked young. Who would choose not to? Dark skin, and brown eyes.

This was the first time Zimri had seen a living human in- days? Weeks? Months?

How long had she been here, going through hell? How many clones had she gone through?

It didn’t matter. It was over.

“Did we get anything on the comms yet?” Asked Serana, softly. She’d been the one to direct the autofac- which had started working again, after they’d escaped the black hole. Zimri shook her head.

“Oh.”

Zimri smiled at her. With optimism she really didn’t feel, she spoke- “Hey, we’re due a break. We’ve beaten every obstacle so far- something going wrong with the comms is not the worst thing to happen to us.” She smiled. “You’ll see- the scans will come through. Everything will be-“

She was interrupted by a pleasant tone- the light on the terminal at the end of the room turning green.

“There, see?” Continued Zimri. “We’ll check the results, it’ll turn out that we’re home. Something is wrong with the comms, is all- you can’t be expected to repair that on your own. It happens to all-“

Then, she saw the results, projected via hologram in the center of the room, and stopped, her face turning pale.

Serana cupped her face in her hands. Zimri didn’t blame her.

There was no way that _this_ was Earth.

_

“Zimri, are you- alright?”

“…Yeah. Air seems- fine. Scans aren’t picking anything up, I’m guessing that whatever caused- this, it wasn’t airborne.”

They’d dropped the clone down near what had once been a major city, on the outskirts. A nice, cosy row of houses. A lot more- primitive, than the kind of stuff the Persistence was capable of setting up on colonised planets. Early 21st century housing, at the latest.

Her steps were silent- modifications to the Erebus Suit and to her own body ensuring her gait produced nothing easily audible as she approached one of the homes. What she'd already seen...

“They’re like the mutants. It- it’s all gone, Zimri. Why-“

“This can’t be our Earth.” Zimri muttered. “This place was destroyed in the Third World War- if they rebuilt while we were gone, they wouldn’t build places like- this.” Idly, she warped behind the mutant lumbering out of the kitchen, and activated her extractor- the tool ripping apart the lumbering corpse’s neck. As it fell to the floor, she looked over the kitchen- pans, pots, a fridge, an electric plate.

All things that weren’t _necessary._ There was something like this in every house- pots, pans. People didn’t _cook_ anymore- except for fun, or out of necessity, and somewhere like this, access to food fabrication should have been a cinch.

“Looks like these guys were either purists, or fabricators just- weren’t invented, here.”

There were only pants on the other end of the line. “Serena?”

“S-sorry. I’m not used to having a body. One of those things came at me, and-“

“Did they breach your suit?”

“No. I don’t think so.”

“Good. These don’t look like the mutants from the Persistence.” Her harvester let off a beep- several unidentified compounds. “Got something weird- might be infectious. Best to disinfect before getting back up. If we take a hit to the body, we might have to-“

“Right.” Came the answer, short, nervous.

“You might want to head back up.” Zimri offered. “I’m Security- and I’ve dealt with…” She shivered. “Dying. A lot, recently. There’s no need for you to risk it unless necessary.”

“Maybe.”

A few minutes later- Serena’s signature shifted. She’d chosen to go back. Zimri would have to talk to her- later. Still, looking at the cells she’d drawn from the zombie- all those decontamination measures seemed a lot more sensible.

A check of the dining room yielded more info- books, magazines. All of them from around the 2000s- a few from earlier. The bedroom- the Headless zombie tottered towards her. No gun. It brought up a hand, tottering towards her.

After disposing of it- she found more _old_ stuff. A TV- OLED. She couldn’t remember ever seeing an OLED screen in person- maybe once, in a museum?

Then again, it wasn’t her that time, was it?

There was a revolver on the floor. A headless zombie, and a revolver lying on the ground. Didn’t take a genius to figure that one out. She could- understand. Doing something like that. Especially in a world like this one.

_

She didn’t see any people- but she did spot new strains. Things that looked nothing like the mutants on the Persistence. It was- massive. The size of a tank. Two stories tall. No skin- its body made up of plates of bone, a skull on top. Black ooze dripped from it with every step as it dragged its massive arms behind it, sick, cracking sounds filling the air- much louder than the sound that came from the human-sized ones.

The smaller ones were already able to shrug off .22 and 9mm rounds. The Stormfury was probably up to the task of killing even these Skeletal Juggernauts- but it wasn’t worth her time. She gave them a wide berth.

Or tried to, anyway.

She hopped backwards, just about staying out of range of the stretched out arm of bone- her .50 cal round tearing through the thing’s structure. It didn’t scream, didn’t howl. Even the sobs of the Witches were better than- this thing, lumbering after her in broad daylight.

Sure, it was dangerous- it could probably take her out in a few swings. But she could _teleport_.

One, two, three. Three more rounds, before it went down. She didn’t get anything of use from it. No useful gear, no valuable Stem Cells. A waste of time and energy.

And if the bird’s eye view Serena’s drone gave her was correct, there were- hundreds of them. A few in almost every horde, a horde every couple blocks, some simply wandering alone. Thousands of zombies. Some with horrifically extended arms, some dripping acids that should have melted through their own flesh, some literally just filled with gases- flammable and otherwise. Suicide bombers.

How did somebody survive- this? She hadn’t died yet, but she had supplies from the Persistence, gear centuries ahead of what the people of this world had.

The answer was that they didn’t. She’d been through a solid chunk of the town, stealthy when possible. She hadn’t seen a single living soul.

_

“I-I need to get over myself.”

“Serena?”

Zimri Eder glanced up from her ration pack. It was- nice, to have breaks from exploring the dead world below. Especially with a friend, even if that friend was hurting.

“I’ll go down with you. Eventually.” She shuddered. “I… need time to think.”

“I understand.” Zimri nodded.

“How do you do it?”

“Pardon?”

“How do you just- go on?” Serena asked. “We aren’t the people we thought we were. I-I never had a daughter, let alone a granddaughter, Zimri. I’m an imitation. There’s a _real_ Serena out there, and she’s with her _real_ granddaughter. I nearly broke down when we learned- but you… without you, both of us would have died.”

Zimri shrugged. “I just- stay focused. I don’t really care that I’m not the original. There wasn’t much back home for me, anyway.” She stared up at the ceiling. “What does it matter, anyway? We are what we are. Not like we have any other choice.”

The other woman stared down at the table in silence.

_

A gigantic, bloated stomach that distended with every step, stubby legs, black and orange pustules.

Five rounds from the Needler made what she tentatively be called the ‘Flame Boomer’ to erupt, showering nearby Z’s with an odd burning compound- sticking to their skin. They flail- yet don’t try to escape, instead swinging wildly at the shatter pottery and collapsing furniture, simply attracting more.

Why had something like this ‘evolved’? They were more of a threat to the Z’s than to humans- at least the Poison Boomers’ gasses didn’t seem to poison other zombies.

Unless they snuck up on you while you were occupied with others, she mused, as she watched the flames slowly start to wrap around the two-story home. While the Poison Boomer’s gas wasn’t immediately lethal, and could be survived even by baseline humans- it would do barely anything to her.

On the other hand- these guys…

With a loud crash, a wall gave in. Zombies from the surrounding blocks were probably headed this way now. Even if you were in heavy armor, you’d just get cooked.

_

Apparently, the zombies here could do acid and electricity too. She looked on from a rooftop as one of the electric ones- one with pale blue flesh, emanating a soft glow, staggered towards a walking mushroom.

A walking mushroom.

Zimri let out a sigh. Another species to add to the list- alongside the living plants. At least this one wasn’t able to shoot at her.

For now.

_

“Serena, could we add the blueprints for this into the firearm fabricator?”  
  
The stuff here wasn’t mil-spec, by any means. Couldn’t compete with the Overlord-area denial system, or the Executioner, but the Persistence didn’t have blueprints for those. It was a colony ship- the most they had blueprints for were pistols and riot control gear.

_“Probably? It’s fairly old tech- we’d have to figure out how to implement targeting systems, unless you want to be using scopes and ironsights.”_

Zimri examined the belt-fed MG in front of her. “Yeah, it would be nice to have an automatic in a calibre other than .22.” Losing usage of her Erebus suit’s shield wasn’t really a hard sell anymore- she could just teleport out of the way of anything really threatening. The Erebus suit’s hyperspace pocket could store most of the arms and ammo she found in Wyatt’s Gun Emporium, and she gave Wyatt’s shambling corpse a silent moment of gratitude before bashing its skull in with her harvester.

She drew the peacekeeper and got to work. The Zs here had to be torn apart, or they got back up. She’d learned that after one of the hulks had punted her through a fence.

That had been fun.

At least using the Peacekeeper to carefully carve up a body didn’t damage the fragile knife. She closed the door behind her. “Right.” She said. “Should I head back up and see if we can replicate-“

_“Zimri, I think I see people!_

_

A single, massive ‘van’- the damned thing was larger than a bus! Solar panels on top- some pristine, some broken. No windows, just security cameras. An honest to god belt-fed turret on top to cap it all off. It was like something straight out of those holos on colonies that had descended into anarchy.

And as Zimri watched through the drone’s feed, it stopped on the edge of town, and people got off.

Well, what looked like people, anyway. Sure, their entire bodies were concealed- one, a particularly large one, by what looked like a positively _primitive_ suit of powered armor- their face concealed by a hood, and the other by something quite similar to older advanced recon gear- but what else could they be?

She snorted. Now that she’d thought that, chances were that they’d turn out to be some kind of liquid based body-snatchers, intending to take over the planet.

Considering some of the things she’d seen down here- that wouldn’t even surprise her, honestly. But seriously- people. Human beings, other than her and Serena! Even if this world was destroyed, ruined-

Right. She’d- made her peace with the lives lost on the Persistence on the way back- no, on the way to this Earth. But how could she just accept that another Earth, filled with billions of souls, had just… died? Leaving behind a tiny fraction of the population?

Well, the same way she always did. Focusing on the job in front of her, and leaving _problems_ for later.

_

Approaching them was probably something best done in the open. Both were armed, the power armored one with a massive Zweihander and the other with a massive rifle slung across their back. While getting shot or stabbed wouldn’t be _permanently_ deadly, she’d still rather not do that.

Which brought up the question of whether she should pull down the suit’s helmet to show she was human- she was already getting low on air, and tests _had_ shown that the air was basically the same as what Earth’s had been back in 2023.

Whatever contamination there was here- she could trust her gene-modded immune system to deal with it. And if it couldn’t, _and_ modern medical science couldn’t get rid of it…

Well. She always had more clones. Zimri felt a shiver run down her spine at the thought of dying, again. It hadn’t been fun the first time, taking a nine-mil to the stomach, and it hadn’t been fun the thirteenth, feeling her skin peel off as the howls of a Witch filled the air-

With a quick shake of her head, she dispelled those thoughts. That was behind her. Chances were, this would be her last body for a long time. And if not- well.

_

With a hiss, the suit’s mask removed itself, a series of harsh beeps informing her of the fact she was breathing untreated air. She took a deep breath.

Her nose wrinkled. Right, she had just killed Wyatt, hadn’t she? Made sense that decaying bodies didn’t smell too good. Serena was watching the two through one of the Persistence’s recon drones-

“ _The one with the rifle is on the roof of the apartment complex you crossed- the one next to the grocer. They’re scoping the place out. I think- yes. He sees you, Zimri.”_

She gave the guy a wave. Not like she was trying to hide. Odds were they’d be heading here anyway- it was the post-apocalypse, after all. Who didn’t hit up the gun stores after those?

Well, anyone with a Mil-Spec Fabricator, but she doubted that these guys, still relying on solar, had something centuries ahead of anything else she’d seen so far.

_“They’re coming down.”_

Waiting was never fun. Activating Super-sense every few seconds, eyes darting from side to side, constantly turning to be sure nothing had come into range. She felt exposed here. Vulnerable.

“Are there any of those- _things_ nearby?” She asked.

“ _No.”_ Serana answered, over the comms. _“Most of them are still focused on the building you burned down.”_ A pause. “ _I guess some good came of that, huh?”_

Zimri smiled. “Seems like it.”

It took some time, but they arrived. She watched them as they approached, walking. She’d kept her guns dematerialised, with only her harvester by her side- though maybe she shouldn’t have bothered. It wasn’t like anyone on the Persistence had questioned her walking around with a riot baton, or the Sentinel when there was an emergency on, and the end of the world _probably_ qualified as an emergency.

And then, they stopped. Not quite in front of her- far enough that she couldn’t- well. Run up and smash their faces in. Could still teleport, though, and she doubted that the rifleman would expect that.

 _“Go on Zimri. Just say hello.”_ Serana piped in, supremely unhelpful.

The two gave each other a look- communicating something- before the one in power armor glanced at the gun store. He let out a low growl- and she tensed, ready to warp-

“Hey! Nice to see somebody- alive.” The rifleman said. “My name’s, uh, Isaac. Yeah.” Isaac’s power armored friend let out what was either a horrifically malformed threat or a grunt of greeting. “And that’s Robin.”

Zimri managed to force a smile. “A pleasure. I’m Zimri Eder- and I’ve got a few questions.”

“Oh!” Isaac’s voice was cheerful. “That’s great! Same here, actually- you, uh, hit this store already?”

Zimri nodded. “Ah, alright.” Isaac continued. “You willing to sell any .50s and 5.56s? We’re starting to run low-“

_

 **“Another universe?”** Robin asked, in a deep, rough voice, as he shovelled through the café’s drawers. He sounded roughly like what Zimri expected a seven foot tall serial killer would sound like- somehow everything he said sounded like a threat- even things as simple as a warning to watch her head because the ceiling was low.

Serana had gone silent once the topic had changed to their circumstances.

She nodded. It would seem odd- they might think she was crazy, but hopefully the fact that she’d given away most of the ammunition she’d found for free- not much of a gift, considering she only needed one of each, would earn her some goodwill-

“Huh, neato. Same as Defender?” Isaac noted. “Oh, you probably haven’t met her. But nah, seems unlikely. Looks like a completely different tech base. Do you guys have fairies?”

Zimri blinked. “What? Fairies- are you joking? You don’t think there’s anything strange about- well…”

Isaac shrugged. “Huh, yeah, Defender found it weird too. Long story short, we have a zombie apocalypse because scientists did something stupid, and a bunch of alternate dimensions got in. There’s the Mi-go, who want to kidnap people for something or the other, there’s the blob itself, there’s the Triffids, there’s the Fungoids-“

“ **Yeah.”** Robin acknowledged, as he slammed a fist into the back door- the wood cracking under his fist. **“Lots of extradimensional stuff. Dangerous. Fungoids infect you and turn you into a mushroom, Mi-go shoot you and shove you in a cage, blob kills you and turns you into zombies. Triffids- Triffids taste good.”**

“So visitors from other dimensions are just- normal?” Zimri asked. And apparently mostly homicidal, too.

“Pretty much.” Replied Isaac, with a nod. Finally- the door splintered under Robin’s blows- and his Zweihander slammed down on the zombie behind it. “So, you wanna travel with us till you get your bearings? Food isn’t a problem with how much we move around-“

She paused. That was- something to consider. Zimri- she was a security guard. Fixing the Persistence wasn’t something she could really contribute to, and it was something she wasn’t needed for- considering most of the lethal defects had been fixed by their jump away from the Black Hole. The most deadly thing still on board was probably exposed panelling.

So why not?

Zimri smiled. “I’m in.”

Robin let out a sound comparable to that of a dying bear. “ **Adding more ladies to your Harem? Defender’s gonna be pissed.”**

Isaac rolled his eyes and kicked his massive, power armored friend in the shin.

_

“I… I need some time to cope. For now I want to focus on fixing the Persistence. Alone.”

“Alright. Got it.” A pause. “Karim, if you want to talk, I’m here.”

“…Right.”

_

“Well, I didn’t get dumped here alone. I’ve got- a friend, and access to the Colony Ship I left- ‘Earth’ in.” Zimri explained.

Scans hadn’t shown any alien contaminants in her body- but that wasn’t anything definitive. There had been traces of the cells she’d found in the zombies on her suit- and that stuff was. Well. Weird. Neither she nor Serena were scientists- she’d made sure to eradicate every one of those cells before boarding the Persistence to get-

“Our level of _science_ meant hunger and ammunition weren’t a problem- and thanks to the fact that I have universal access and can enable emergency measures-“ She grinned, and idly spun the Stormfury .50 cal in her hand.

Isaac let out a low whistle. “Damn, lady. Here I thought we’d be the ones helping you out!”

Robin held out a hand. “ **May I?”**

Zimri nodded, and passed him the Revolver. The power armored giant gave it a quick once over.

Robin let out a low, rumbling growl she was fairly certain was meant to be a chuckle- before he reached under his hood, removing a mask, exposing-

Zimri couldn’t help staring.

Robin wasn’t- human. Isaac was a normal person, under his gas mask. Fair skin, bit of a bony face, but still _human._

Under his mask- Robin was- goo. It was like he was made of a grey, roiling mass, his eyes like those of a fly. She could _see_ rigid structures- metal, inside of him. It was so, incredibly _alien-_ he looked like living _vomit_.

“Oh, yeah.” Isaac explained. “Robin’s a mutant. And- uh. A cyborg too. Guess those aren’t normal in your ‘verse.”

She flinched- but shook her head. Robin wasn’t trying to kill her. He was sapient, he was a _person_.

“ **It’s great.”** He explained. “ **Got Hydraulic muscles, let me enhance my strength for short periods. Integrated UPS, lets me power my armor inefficiently when necessary. Got a distributed brain, so losing my head won’t kill me instantly, and I can regenerate from most wounds. Got Night vision-“**

“Holy shit, we get it Robin, you’re amazing, thanks.” Isaac rolled his eyes. “Dipshit still freaks out if he gets hit by a couple rifle rounds, though.”

“ **You think you could take a few 5.56s?”**

“Pfft, no.”

Zimri shook her head. Right. “Ah, it’s fine. It was just- unexpected.”

Robin nodded, taking the revolver in both hands and sighting in. **“Good weight. But three rounds? And why is it Single Action?”**

Zimri shrugged. “Meant to be reloaded the same way I pull firearms out of thin air. Why is it Single action? I- don’t know. Chambers a .50 Cal- and has more impact than similarly sized rounds from handguns you have. It isn’t meant for military use- so maybe to limit how much firepower Security has?”

“ **We’ll be leaving this area, soon. Mind if I test it?”**

Zimri nodded. “Sure.”

Robin firmed up his grip- before firing. His hand barely moved- the guy was _strong._ Sure, he was bigger than her, but him being able to match Zimri in terms of recoil control on the Stormfury was still impressive- she was several times stronger than her body originally was thanks to the ‘enhancements’ she’d given herself with extracted Stem Cells.

Isaac gave the gun a try too- but he had a lot more trouble with it. His arms practically snapped backwards- and he shook his head. “Feels pretty close to the RM99. Great impact- but I can’t handle the recoil. Only way I can manage my Barret is by bracing it while prone.” He passed the gun back to her. “Got anything smaller?”

Zimri grinned. “Oh, _do I.”_

Killing a few thousand mutants with guns might have made her somewhat knowledgeable regarding them. It was healthy. Really! Killing things that wanted you dead _had_ to be healthy!

_

The atmosphere on their return to the ‘APC’ was cheerful. The fabricated MREs from the Persistence had been judged ‘better than the shit you find in Surplus stores’ by Isaac, and had been devoured by Robin.

Isaac cheerfully hopped into the vehicle, greeting the occupant- “Hey, Defender, guess what we found!”

The vehicle- which she refused to call by its moniker, the ‘Deathmobile’, was surprisingly homely on the inside. Five reclining seats, an obscene amount of storage space- practically every floor had a hatch, every wall was lined with a trunk or cargo container of some sort. A chemistry set and cooking unit took up what little floor space remained that wasn’t a chair or trunk. Was it cramped? Yes. Did the books, dishes, firearm parts, clothes, and toys make it feel more like a home than _anywhere_ on the Persistence? Yes.

‘Defender’ turned out to be a woman, blonde, with blue eyes. Very fit. “What-“ Her eyes narrowed. “Who is this?” She turned to face Zimri- revealing a leg wrapped in bandages.

“ **Defender, Zimri. Zimri, Defender. Scuse me, need to work on Dinner.”** Robin growled out.

“A pleasure.” Zimri said, with a nod.

“She’s a dimensional stowaway.” Isaac explained. “Like you! She was willing to join, so-“

“So you decide to bring her in? Just like that?” Defender interrupted.

“Yep.” He answered.

Defender rolled her eyes. “Right. You know what that means for our stockpiles-“

“Not at all, for our newest member brings the contribution of infinite food!” Isaac declared, with a grin. “She has access to some resources from her universe, and they’re _way_ ahead of us.”

“Infinite food.” Defender rooted the man in place with a firm glare. “I expect a bit more of an explanation, _Isaac.”_

_


	2. Chapter 2

“Well- I would like to learn about what happened to the world. The zombies I’ve killed so far had some _strange_ cells in them, but neither me nor Serana- she’s my- friend. She came through with me. Neither of us are biologists, so I was hoping you’d know more.”

For a moment, the conversation slowed. Both Robin and Defender turned to Isaac.

“ **You’re up, nerd.”** Robin explained.

Isaac glanced up at the ceiling, idly chewing over his share of pasta. “Well. Keep in mind this is based on- limited information. I don’t think anyone knows the whole story- we’ve hit a few government labs, and that’s the only reason we know what we do.”

Zimri nodded. Nothing definitive, then- but probably better than what she’d found out over the course of a few days.

“Uh- so. Scientists were doing a lot of research into transhumanism- bionics had made some pretty crazy advances in the last couple years. Had cranial flashlights, magnet based telekinesis, crazy stuff- all available to regular people. So from what I can tell, the nerds were doing research into improving humans, and stumbled across alternate dimensions.”

Zimri nearly choked on her fork. “How-?!”

Isaac shrugged. “I dunno. Pre Cataclysm scientists were _crazy._ Had bionics that let you teleport, bionics that let you go through walls.”

“ **Got that last one. Fucking great for breaking into locked rooms.”** Robin said, proudly.

“Yes, yes, thanks Robin. We know you’re a bionic mutant god, no need to rub it in.” Isaac grumbled.

“But yes, I guess one of those led to them discovering this goo that resurrects people and can do some pretty cool mutations.” He said, nodding at Robin as he shoved his entire plate straight into the gelatinous mass that made up his face, where it- floated, slowly ripping itself apart.

“Of course, it escaped.” Isaac went on. “And apparently letting it in opened the doors to everything else, so Earth’s now hosting a three-way between zombies, plants, and shrooms. Humans need not apply.”

Science taking it too far? Really? That was what led to the end of the world? Abominations from beyond, summoned by humanity’s hubris? It sounded like something out of a science fiction novel-

But then again, Zimri considered, the same could be said regarding the events on the Persistence.

“Wait.” Her eyes narrowed. “Mutation- Robin, you- you’re infected?”

Isaac chuckled, sadly. “Look, here’s the thing- I’m pretty sure everybody is infected.”

What?

Defender nodded. “Yes- there have been signs of it. My leg-“ She said, pointing to the bandaged limb. “It was coated in acid yesterday.” She shrugged. “I made the mistake of shoving my foot through a Spitter’s head. Horrific burns- even with what I am- it would have taken at least a week to heal. I should be able to move normally by tomorrow.”

Robin nodded. “ **Yeah. Isaac gets fucked up a lot- because he’s garbage in melee.”**

“Hey.” Isaac protested, weakly.

“ **Got a chunk bitten out of his leg? No problem. He’s good to go after two or three days. Got a massive cut in his arm? Fine in a day. As for me-“** His gooey flesh bubbled. “ **I’ve healed from wounds that would need a trip to the ER in _hours_ after slapping on disinfectant and a bandage.”**

Isaac nodded. “While the first part of what Robin said is pure bull, he’s mostly right. Massively enhanced healing, along with some- mental changes.”

A forlorn look crossed over his face. “A lot more- risk-taking. There was a rise in violent behaviour. In the first couple weeks, I remember breaking into a pharmacy and beating a zombie to death with a shower rod because I had a headache and wanted an _aspirin._ ”

“ **Yeah.”** Robin agreed. “ **I mean, I’m happy with the results, but there’s no way I’d just start chugging mutagen normally. But nah, I broke into a lab two weeks into the Cataclysm, blew up a couple turrets with frag grenades, and chugged down every vial that I saw. Woke up near dead of dehydration able to smell out of my pseudolimbs.”**

Zimri’s eyes widened. “What, so you’re all just- infected? And you’re fine with that?”

Defender shrugged. “Well- yes. I might have wanted to beat the people who saved my life to death with my shield for a week after I woke up here, but the- vastly improved healing factor is incredibly useful.”

What- huh. She could… See where they were coming from. If she’d only had _one_ clone on board the Persistence, and her medicinal capabilities were restricted to 21st Century medicine- she’d have been laid up for months with some of the injuries she’d received. They’d have been consumed by the black hole before she ever made it past the research deck.

In an apocalypse like this one- a healing factor was invaluable, wasn’t it?

She’d eaten food down here, breathed the air. Maybe it was worth letting the contagion spread- figuring out what effect it would have on her cloned body.

_

“Oh- it’s been- at long time since we saw another native! First year, you could go a couple weeks before coming across a survivor- well, at least one that didn’t want you dead.” Isaac said, a thoughtful expression on his face.

“ **Bunch of factions back then- remember Hell’s Raiders? Those guys were a pain in the ass.”**

Isaac chuckled sadly. “Heh. Yeah. Course, after the first winter- started seeing a lot less people. And now, we’re four winters in. Haven’t actually- seen a normal person. Recently. Just Defender- and we found her months ago, and she- well, she isn’t from this dimension.” He scratched at the back of his head. “If we don’t meet anyone soon- we might end up going a whole year without meeting another survivor.”

There wasn’t really anything Zimri could say to that.

_

 **“** Yeah, it was- bad.” Zimri finished.

Going over the events that occurred on the Persistence hadn’t been pleasant. The others had winced, and listened- but none of them had shown pity. Why would they? They’d gone through similar, or worse.

It was- empathy. She had expected to be an outsider, coming back to Earth- isolated for being a clone, to be unable to find people who’d been through similar.

It was. Nice. Being with people who could understand.

“And what about you?” She asked, her eyes on Defender.

The woman in question sighed. “I’d rather not repeat it. I’ve told the other two- they can relay it if you’re really interested.”

And that killed that conversation.

“Anyway.” Isaac started, promptly changing the topic. “I guess we’ll be heading back to base now.”

Zimri tilted her head. “How come? You just arrived- weren’t you planning on doing any serious scavenging?”

He nodded. “Not really. We’re on our way back from a run- we hit a few underground shelters, some grocery stores, a military surplus store over in-“He looked over at his friends. “Whitewood?” Robin shrugged, but Defender nodded, a mildly bemused expression on her face. “Anyway,” Isaac continued, “We decided to top up on ammo and gun parts on the way back, and since you’ve already hit up Wyatt’s for us-“He shrugged. “We’re headed home.”

Zimri nodded. It was reasonable enough.

“ **Winter is close. It’ll be best to just stay home for a while.”** Robin let out a pleased warble. “ **We’ve been working on clearing out the area near it. It’s slow going- but it’s fun.”**

“Huh.” Zimri could see the appeal. She’d be lying if she said she’d never taken out her frustrations on the mutants on the Research Deck after getting slammed into an electric floor by a Berserker. “I might just join in.”

“ **Nice! It’ll be great to have someone else who enjoys bashing in skulls.”**

“Hey.” Zimri protested. “I use guns when necessary.” It was a minor detail that as time went on- it’d gotten less and less necessary. Towards the end, fighting Berserkers had become a simple matter of teleport, harvest, teleport, harvest.

A long way from sneaking up on one, freaking out when the first harvest didn’t kill it, and then getting her skull smashed into her ribcage. It was- strange. Remembering the days when she’d treasured every shot.

Defender snorted. “I used to be a regular ranged fighter, you know. I swear I’ve beaten more things to death with my shield over the last few months than I did in all my years as a Valkyrie.”

_

The drive ‘home’ was- uneventful. It was odd. Just going for a drive with what she could tentatively call friends, listening to music- everyone taking turns to put on something new. Sure, they occasionally rammed a zombie crossing the road, the Deathmobile splattering them across the road, barely slowing, but other than that-

You could almost pretend the world hadn’t ended, Zimri mused.

Of course, Isaac was cheerfully describing the places as they passed- talking about campgrounds kids used to go to, candy stores that were once big tourist hotspots. Robin would talk about fun little skirmishes they’d had in those parts- fights with Spitters and Acid Boomers which had been a bit of a joke because of his own acidic nature, and that one time he’d taken on three Skeletal Juggernauts at the same time and won _handily_.

“I’d like to visit a library.” Defender mentioned, as Isaac and Robin described the one time they’d taken on a number of horrific Nightstalkers constantly being supported by a Zombie Master in between towering bookshelves, and she was promptly promised a trip. Zimri offhandedly mentioned she wanted to see if she could fit a scope and stock on the Stormfury, and Defender promised to help.

It felt like time passed all too quickly.

And then- they were there. An evac shelter, a few minutes away from the nearest town.

“Huh.” Defender said. “When did you guys get a bike?”

“We didn’t.” Isaac answered, a smile spreading across his face.

_

“There’s a lot of stuff here. Any survivor who passed would have decided to shack up, at least temporarily!” Isaac explained, cheerfully.

Isaac and Robin had been- disappointed to find the new inhabitant wasn’t in when they arrived. Still, whoever they were, the stranger clearly planned to come back- they’d left a number of gallon jugs off to the side, mysterious blackish red liquids swishing about within, and a couple backpacks off in the side, alongside all the other duffel bags and suitcases.

“Non-perishables go in the crate, perishables go in the mini-fridge. Ammo in the locker. Zimri-“Defender turned to her as she spoke. “Can you deal with the books?”

Zimri nodded, a somewhat confused look on her face. “So- you just let people come in? Aren’t you worried about things getting stolen?”

“Not- really.” Isaac answered. “There isn’t much to steal, honestly. It’s just food, books, and spare gear- most of our good stuff is on the Deathmobile. There aren’t really any big groups left- and food isn’t really scarce.”

He shrugged. “We’ve got enough to keep us going, honestly. Worst case scenario, we hit up a military outpost for the MREs or something. It- isn’t worth letting a person die, y'know?”

Zimri stared. “So you just- trust everyone? You don’t trap the place?”

Defender snorted. “Finally, some sense. I’ve been telling them this for months.”

 **“You don’t know how things have been.”** Robin grumbled. **“You’d have been right in year two- but people can’t afford to make enemies now. There’s too few of us left.”**

Isaac nodded. “Yeah. Early on we had a few selfish assholes- but they got wiped out. There aren’t really any big groups _left_. Hell’s Raiders got wiped out, the Merchants got hit by a horde and most of the survivors got fucked up by Triffids. Besides, until you and Defender showed up- there was only the two of us. We could store enough to survive for a _long_ time in the Deathmobile- hell, It’s not like we really _need_ to stay here for Winter. It’s just- tradition. If somebody needs this more than us-“Isaac sighed. “They can have it.”

Robin nodded.

Zimri shrugged- it was… weird. Absurdly generous. To just give away everything they’d worked for-

She’d gladly go through everything she’d gone through on the Persistence again if it would save a single one of the crew.

Hm.

_

Zimri was nearest to the door- sitting down, reading through a tourist guide as she sipped on Robin’s damn good coffee. She hadn’t yet felt any of the violent impulses- what pre Cataclysm scientists had dubbed ‘blob psychosis’, yet, though her Suit’s diagnosis had informed her of the blob’s presence in her shortly after she’d had her first drink down here.

Her proximity meant she was the first to see the knight open the door.

Like- full on plate armor. Chainmail. A face concealing helmet. They even had a _halberd_ , held at the ready. The backpack they were wearing seemed hilariously out of place.

“Er. Greetings.” The Knight declared- in a woman’s voice. “I don’t suppose thou wouldst mind me, um. Taking my stuff?”

She seemed to shrink in on herself as four pair of eyes turned on her. “uh.” She leaned away. “I’m sorry for eating your stuff- I’ll replace it-“

“Woah.” Isaac said. “You cosplay as a knight? That’s dope. Wanna join?”

Defender let out a sigh of frustration, and Robin offered an enthusiastic thumbs up.

Zimri stared at him in disbelief.

_

Introductions were passed around- the knight called herself ‘Anri, servant of the Running Lords’, which had thrown her and Isaac into a fit of giggling, while Zimri, Robin, and Defender had exchanged confused looks.

“What-“Anri asked, her helmet off, and tucked under her shoulder. “Just like that?”

“I agree.” Defender grumbled. “Do we really need to adopt every stray? Including the ones using outdated methods of combat for _fun_?”

“ **Hey.”** Robin grumbled.

Anri scrunched up her nose. “Hey. Thine guns are the outdated method here. How will- er, thoust fight enemies, whenst-“

“And why does she sound like she’s mocking me with every other word she speaks?” Defender exclaimed.

“ **Yeah.”** Robin said, embarrassed, scratching the back of his head. **“Maybe less of the olde English?”**

“Ugh.” Anri grumbled. “Fineeeee. But yeah- you see somebody’s been living in your place, and your first instinct is to ask them if they want to join your party? Why?”

Robin shrugged. **“Strength in numbers? Post-Apocalyptic Knights are cool?”**

 **“** That and basic human decency.” Isaac added with a snort. “I’d be surprised if there’s another five people left in the country. If you aren’t trying to kill us, you’re with us.”

What, really? Robin said it was because she was cool, and Isaac was just _that_ nice? There was no way she’d buy that-

“Huh. Fair enough.” Anri mused. “Can’t I say I think differently.”

“ _What.”_ Defender asked. “How- how do you know we won’t kill you in your sleep?! Is everyone in this dimension just an overly-trusting idiot?”

Isaac was about to protest, but a thoughtful expression fell over his face. “Now that I think about it, a couple of people in The Free Merchants did take a lot of stupid risks. Could be a more long-term effect of the virus, now that I think about it.”

“Well- yeah.” Anri answered. “But _I_ have insurance. Meet Ramirez!” She said, pulling the door back open.

Revealing a soldier- equipped with a full set of military gear, a ballistic vest, an army helmet, the works.

One which was clearly dead, and glared upon them with glowing red eyes which contained nothing but hate.

Or they were just glowing. The hate might have been imagined on Zimri’s part.

She promptly stumbled to her feet- but paused on seeing both Robin and Isaac didn’t seem too bothered. Defender was the only one who seemed to be worried by it being a- zombie. Her pistol was trained squarely on its head.

“What the fuck?” Defender hissed out.

It- well. It wasn’t that weird.

“Mind control?” Zimri wondered out loud. “I- had something similar. I should test it out on othe zombies, now that I think about it-”

“Nah, nah. I met this one lady way back- she’d cut up the nerves and muscles in a zombie and tied their hands and jaw up- strapped a few bags to it and used it to lug shit around.” Isaac said.

“ **How do you get the eyes to glow? That’s fucking _cool_.” **Robin said, stomping up to the zombie. **“Ooh, a Bio-Operator? How’d you get rid of the electric discharges-“** He reached out to poke it-

“Wha- no!” Anri protested. “It’s necromancy!”

“ **Well, yeah, you can sell it as Necromancy, but how’d you actually do it?”**

“Wh- it’s magic! I had to do a ritual and everything! I had to make a blood sacrifice-”

“ **Fine.”** Robin grumbled. “ **Keep your secrets.”**

“I’m telling you!” Anri whined. “It’s magic!”

“ **Wait, seriously?”**

“Yes!”

Zimri stared. This- this was a joke, right? They didn’t actually have magic. She grinned, looking over at Defender- who looked positively murderous.

“You _are_ joking, right-“ She began to ask.

“ **Woah. That’s awesome.”** Robin interrupted.

“Huh. Yeah. Like- do you have a limit on it? Or can you just control an army of the guys?”

“Uh.” Anri scratched at the back of her head. “Not really. I’m working on expanding my mana reserves, but so far I can’t really handle more than a couple mid-tier zombies. It takes a lot more blood based on how powerful I think they are.” She looked over at ‘Ramirez’. “Animating this guy knocked me out for an _hour_. I’m lucky he was able to scare off anything that wanted to eat me.”

“ **So you’re like- a Necromancer Knight? That is the coolest shit-“** Robin declared, only to be interrupted by Defender.

“What the fuck. You can’t just- enslave the souls of others!”

“I- don’t think that’s how it works.” Anri said, shaking her head. “It’s not like I’m bringing the people back. It’s more like- creating a spirit to inhabit the shell-“

“That isn’t.” Defender hissed, through gritted teeth. “How Necromancy _works._ You can’t just create a spirit from _nothing_. You pull them back, lobotomize them, and-“

“Hey, alternate dimensions. Might not work that way.” He turned to Anri. “You sure you aren’t eternally torturing people?”

“Yes!” Anri grumbled. “The book says that’s how it works-“

“ **The book?”**

She grumbled as she shoved a hand into her backpack, pulling out- a completely blank book.

“See?” She explained, pulling it open to a certain page-

“It’s blank.” Zimri pointed out, receiving an agreement from Defender.

“ **What? Nah. Looks like a bunch of Latin-“** Robin responded.

“Oh, hey, I know some Latin. No- that’s Sanskrit.” Isaac’s eyes narrowed. “Yeah, I don’t know this.”

“Um.” Anri tilted her head. “I guess it’s got something to do with the foreword? The book says it only bonds with one person, so…”

“Huh, fair enough.” Isaac mused, passing it back. “But yeah, I can see how having a couple sleepless soldiers watching over you would minimise fears of being killed in your sleep.”

“Yep.” Anri declared. “So guess I’m staying, huh?”

_

“ _Zimri, do you think my grandchildren are- happy?”_

Zimri leaned on the decontamination chamber’s wall, temporarily halting her drop off of firearms and ammo. Serana- she’d been looking forward to being a grandmother. It had to be much harder for her, didn’t it?

“I don’t know.” She answered, honestly. “I don’t see why not. This- isn’t our Earth. Chances are they’re living a happy life, free of need or danger.”

“ _With the real Serena Karim.”_ Came the morose reply.

“Serena.” Zimri answered, seriously. “It doesn’t matter that we’re not the ‘originals.’ We’re _people._ You’re just as much the real Serena Karim as the one back on our Earth is. You’ve got the same memories, personality, skill- what does it _matter_ that you weren’t physically there?”

“ _But-“_

“We deserve to be happy.” She insisted.

“ _A-anyway…”_ Serena stammered out. “ _How did you plan to scan these? I’m not familiar with most security equipment-“_

“Wait.” Zimri asked, confused. “You mean you don’t know how to? I thought we had- scanners, or something-“

Wait. That didn’t make sense. Why _would_ they have the equipment for creating new blueprints? They weren’t meant to fight a war, or invent things. Their job was just colonisation.

They weren’t meant to be able to mass produce military-grade equipment the moment they got their hands on a single copy of it.

Shit.

_

It wasn’t a long walk ‘home’, the new teleporter she’d set up was only a minute’s walk away.

Rations went in the crate, ammo went in the locker. Defender gave her a nod from her workbench- and Zimri’s eyes widened as she peered over her shoulder.

“ _That’s_ your shield?” She asked.

Defender’s only response was a non-committal hum. The shield was- massive. Similar to ancient Roman Scutum- she’d seen those in History books, but made out of the same ceramic-plastic hybrid material Defender’s carapace armor was made of.

Of course, that wasn’t necessarily the odd thing- that was the set of golden runes floating above it, which Defender was carefully fiddling with.

Just- it was magic, wasn’t it? It was… Hard to come to terms with _magic._

“What do those do?” She asked.

“Mana batteries.” Defender muttered, as she pushed a floating golden sigil a bit to the left. “Make sure basic disruption spells don’t destroy it instantly. Just make the shield hot as hell, since it doesn’t have a proper insul system.”

“Huh.” Disruption spells. Right. That wasn’t something she expected to ever hear about.

“Not a good idea to engrave these into armor.” Defender explained, as she moved her finger about in a circle- and the runes began to fade. “Means instead of falling apart, your gear cooks you alive.”

She felt a nudge on her leg- right.

Anri’s skeletal dog. It sadly clacked its jaws together, and gave her what probably was meant to be a morose look with its own glowing red eyes.

Defender gave it a foul look- and Zimri wasn’t really sure how to feel. The mutt- made up of bones and held together with black ooze was- well-

It was kind of cute. Idly, she scratched the underside of its jawbone, and its teeth rattled together in what Zimri hoped was contentment. “So what’s our next move?” Zimri asked.

Defender shrugged as she leaned back in her seat, not quite taking her eyes off the skeletal dog. “Probably going to hit a lab in a few weeks.”

“And in the meantime?”

“I’ll be trying out your new guns.” Defender answered. “It’ll be nice to be able to use guns without worrying about ammo. Need to make some more explosives, take apart a few manhacks we pulled out of a Beagle.”

Defender’s eyes turned to outside. “And the idiots are probably going to hit each other for a bit.”

Anri and Robin were squaring off- both equipped with training weapons. Anri had a surprising amount of equipment- she’d been into ‘heavy combat’ before the Cataclysm. While Robin had the advantage of height, strength, speed and reach, with his two-handed ‘sword’ and mutant body…

He clearly had _zero_ experience taking on enemies that didn’t just walk into his swings. Pretty much everything he tried missed- especially since he had to temper his strength. Anri had been very enthusiastic when drilling into him what acceptable force was for this kind of thing.

On the other hand, what Anri lacked in bodily capability, she made up for in actually having formal training. Where Robin would try to block swings or overexert in deflecting them, she’d consistently just push his swings to the side, poking and prodding him from afar with her polearm, cheerfully yelling out instructions and advice.

It was. Strange. How fast they’d just befriended each other. Anri had practically dragged Robin off to the side she’d seen the big lug use the Zweihander like a hatchet to chop up a hulk.

The fact that it had done the job was irrelevant- the moment she’d told him she could teach him how to do it _properly_ his compound insect eyes had _shone_.

Isaac and Anri’s bio-operator were providing encouragement from the sidelines- the former by loudly demanding Anri beat Robin’s ‘dumb ass’, and the latter by staring on with its dead eyes.

It was nice.

“So.” Defender stood, lifting her shield with barely a hint of exertion. “Should we go test out those guns?”

“What.” Zimri blinked. “Right now?”

“Yeah.” Defender answered, “What, you want to test it out against actual, dangerous enemies?” She snorted. “Nah. The boys have been slaughtering zombies in the town down the road for three years now- but there’s always more. Want to go say hi?”

Zimri grinned. “Absolutely.”

_

“You get infected, yet?” Defender asked.

“Yes. My suit detected it after I had some water down here.” Zimri answered. “Doesn’t seem to have done anything yet, though.”

Defender nodded. “We’ll keep an eye on you, then. Don’t want you running into a horde with that toy of yours.” She said, with a glance at her Harvester. “Aren’t you worried? Most people- didn’t survive infection.”

Isaac nodded, concerned. “Lots of people just tried to charge turrets and shit after getting infected. Might want to take it a bit more seriously, y’know?”

Zimri shrugged. “My bodies are- disposable. The Persistence has a cloning system that allows me to print a new body if this one gets destroyed, or if I choose to exit it. Since my brain is scanned into the system, it shouldn’t be able to alter my cognition too much-“

She noticed the stares she was getting. “What?”

“So you’re- immortal?” Isaac asked, awe in his eyes.

“Yes.” She answered. After a pause. “In a sense. Destruction of this body won’t kill me, as long as my brain’s engram remains intact.”

Isaac let out a low whistle. “That’s fucking awesome. Wish I could do that.”

Defender gave her an odd look.

Zimri, Isaac, and Defender were headed out for ‘weapons testing’- along with Anri’s dog. Something about the mutt wanting to ‘consume the flesh of the enemy’, as an alternative to Anri making regular blood sacrifices to keep it around.

They weren’t able to find a horde, unsurprisingly. The big ones had gotten wiped out over the course of three years, and any big ones showing up would be cause for alarm- and would presumably result in organized action by the lot of them to take it out.

Still- dregs were always wandering in.

“Not bad.” Defender muttered, as the zombie- more athletic and muscular looking than the normal ones, fell. “I like mine better- but finding ammo for it here is impossible.” Her eyes narrowed as she tried to fire off a quick burst of shots into an approaching boomer- only for it to fire two, a pause in between each. “Not a fan of a rate of fire like this on a nine-mil.”

Zimri shrugged. “Yeah- software limitation. Meant for security, not military uses.”

“And the rounds aren’t compatible with ‘normal’ guns.” Defender scowled. “Needler is pretty decent though- full auto .22 isn’t half bad, and the mag size is useable. Hits harder than normal .22s, should be enough for low tier Zs. That, and the-“ her lips curled upwards, a bemused grin. “Valkyrie, pretty good. Stormfury is alright, though it being a single action, only holding three rounds, and not having a speedloader- big flaws.”

Zimri nodded. “Yeah- magazine sizes didn’t really matter on the Persistence. I guess these things are meant to be used with Erebus suits.”

Defender nodded. “Still, a Valkyrie for stealth purposes, a Stormfury as a backup and for armor penetration, and a Needler for regular use- not too much weight, and the mags should fit in my armor. This’ll be a great help.” She smiled.

“Man, that little guy is really going at it.” Isaac observed, as the skeletal dog promptly started tearing into the zombie’s corpse, tearing off chunks of tainted flesh- only for them to smoulder and turn to ash, the dog’s eyes brightening, cracks and wear in its bony plates mending.

“I still can’t believe you people accepted Necromancy like it was _no big deal_.” Defender grumbled.

“Well, I mean.” Isaac answered. “It really _isn’t._ It’s not like they’re tortured souls or anything. They’re just blob lifeforms. Even if the blob is suffering every moment it’s a servant of hers-“

The skele-dog cheerfully sat down, in front of them, its jaw hanging open. Zimri felt like if it had a tongue, it would be panting.

“Well, fuck it, y’know?” Isaac finished, as he stroked its bony skull.

Defender gave him a flat look- before snorting, and crouching down, giving the thing a scratch under its chin.

Zimri rolled her shoulders. “So, what else is there?”

“Well~” Isaac said, cheerfully. “Defender said she wanted to check out the library, and I’m sure you’d appreciate a chance to pick out some reading material, so-“

_

It was strange, coming to an actual, physical library. Zimri had been to a few, sure- but those were mostly just for show. It was rare to find one with actual, paper books. Most of the time, if you wanted to read something, you just got it fabricated, or read it on holo.

Of course, they’d fucked up a lot of databases getting the Persistence to jump away from the black hole. Pretty much everything entertaining had gotten corrupted or deleted, and since keeping the crew _sane_ apparently wasn’t essential, there hadn’t been any backups.

And that was why she was browsing through the dusty shelves of a library which had been untouched for four years. She’d liked stories about the struggles of colonists, the effort of settling a new world-

Which meant she should probably be searching the science fiction section. The early 21st Century probably didn’t have a lot of non-fiction about colonising other systems- or even other planets _within_ the solar system.

She was so caught up in thought she nearly stumbled over a corpse. That was a near save. Could have knocked a shelf over.

They’d set up shop at one of the reading tables, lit by a few reading lights Isaac had packed, and what little sunlight could make its way in through the windows and skylight. Anri’s dog had already curled up on one of the chairs- its bones rattling rhythmically. Could skeleton dogs sleep? Did they need to?

Zimri shook her head. Her eyes widened as she looked upon the stack of religious texts sitting in front of Defender. It was a mix of- everything. Stuff on Hindu mythology, on Islam, on Christianity. She was completely _engrossed_.

Of course, Isaac was reading comics. He’d brought a bunch of books on medicine- and shoved them into his backpack. He noticed Zimri’s look, and shrugged, a grin on his face.

_


	3. Chapter 3

“I think I’ve got enough for a Juggernaut.” Anri muttered.

“Sorry- what?” Zimri asked.

“Y’know- the big ones.” She explained. “Like- twice as tall as Robin? Big skeletons?”

Zimri shook her head. “Yes, I got that- but enough of what? You planning on raising one?”

“Blood. Needed a _lot_ of blood. That’s what the jugs are for. And yeah- totally. I mean, look at Ramirez!”

Ramirez _was_ pretty useful, yes. Was able to suplex regular zombies, acted as a nice coat hanger for Isaac- at least until Anri ordered him to tase the guy.

“You think Robin will help?” Anri asked.

Zimri glanced over at the guy in question, as he took a break from sorting crates to give the skeletal dog’s- ribcage? Blobular mass? A scratch.

“What’s the little guy’s name, anyway?” Zimri asked.

Anri seemed to shrink. After some hesitation- she answered. “Fluffy.”

Zimri glanced over at the skeletal hound. “What? Seriously?”

The Necromancer-Knight turned away from her with a huff. “Oh, sue me. Like you could come up with a better name when you were five.”

Zimri stared at her, confused. “When you were- five?”

Anri shrugged. “I had Fluffy before the Cataclysm.”

“Oh. Well- I think he’d be open to the idea.”

_

Robin agreed, unsurprisingly. The idea of having a pet Skeletal Juggernaut was apparently too awesome to pass up. They had to bring along the shopping cart to carry Anri’s twenty litres of blood- some of it human, most of it extracted from the undead.

The amount of blood needed for a necromantic resurrection, Anri had explained, was dependent on the ‘perceived’ and ‘actual’ power of an entity. And since Skeletal Juggernauts had a habit of simply pushing through cars to get to survivors- occasionally _crushing them under said cars_ \- they were pretty up there in terms of blood price.

Extracting twenty litres of blood from her own body, during the ritual- was probably a bad idea. Maintaining the big guy would require her to get rid of most of her servants- the more regular zombies she had a small collection of. They’d performed excellent service as holders of light-bulbs, fuel for fires, and mannequins, but it was time for them to go.

“Should be able to maintain Fluffy and Ramirez though.” She declared, cheerfully, much to Robin and Zimri’s delight. She- hadn’t expected to grow so attached to the mutt.

Hunting down a Juggernaut though- that was an issue. Robin and Isaac had gone to great lengths to take out any that showed up once they’d set up shop in the evac shelter- and had promptly dismembered them, which meant there probably weren’t more than a couple lurking in town, having wandered in when they left for their supply run.

It took _hours_ before they found one- at the heart of a small horde. Anri let out a low groan. “Zimri, can you take out the Spitters? Robin can handle acid- I can’t.”

She nodded. A few cracks of the Stormfury- and they were dealt with, every face in the Horde instantly turning to them.

“Right.” Anri explained. “We’ll want to do as little damage as possible to the body- so leave the Juggernaut for last, okay? Healing it will require me to use my own blood- so I’d rather not have to fix a new leg on it.”

Both Robin and Zimri nodded- and they took up their positions at the end of the street- Zimri switching to the Needler, and dealing with a few of the bog standard Zs before they could close.

Robin’s muscles whirred, and his Zweihander cut one of the Skeletal hulks cleanly in half, even as Anri’s halberd pierced through the skull of a Grappler, even as Ramirez performed a CQC takedown- on what looked like the corpse of a little kid.

Ugh. That wasn’t fun to watch. Zimri shook her head.

It was a slaughter. Once they got in close- Zimri had started caving in skulls with her Harvester, adding to the Melee meat grinder. This wasn’t a big horde- any one of them could have taken it on their own.

The Juggernaut was different matter, of course. Sure, Robin could take on three at a time and win. Sure, Zimri had ripped one apart on her first day. Sure, Anri, with her speed and reach, could take one on with zero fuss.

 _This_ wasn’t a slaughter.

It was more akin to beating up a toddler. Honestly- Zimri felt _bad_ as she slammed her harvester deep into the Juggernaut’s chest- before activating it. The giant jerked, once- before crumpling.

“ **Wow. I can’t believe we survived that.”** Robin declared, his attempt at a sarcastic, deadpan voice ruined by the fact that he always sounded like an angry bear.

“Oh, shush you. Quit your whining.” Anri grumbled. “Help me pour this before the bastard gets back up.

Zimri promptly got to chopping up the other corpses- hearing the occasional comment of ‘you missed a spot’, or ‘too much on the clavicle, I think.’

Zimri nearly broke her knife on the kid’s body. She had to use the Stormfury for ‘pulping’ that one.

“Right, right.” Anri said, stopping to wipe the sweat from her brow, and starting to remove her gauntlets. She passed those and her helmet to Robin, who tucked them under his shoulder. “That’s enough, I think. Step back, alright?”

Robin and Zimri did as instructed.

“Um.” Anri bit her lip. “If I pass out- that’s normal. Probably just exhaustion. Shouldn’t take more than half a litre of blood to get this thing up and running, so I _should_ be fine.”

Anri withdrew her tome from her bag- putting it down on the ground- before, after a short glance-

She started… talking.

Zimri stared. Anri was- saying something. But she couldn’t make out _what._ It was English, wasn’t it? And yet, every word- it carried meaning, yet it was gibberish at the same time. Every word resounded with emotional weight, yet she couldn’t for the life of her figure out what they were.

It was like a dream.

And then, she drew the knife- and for a moment, that was all Zimri could see. That knife, and Anri’s palm, flawless, perfect- and open, gushing with life, pure life. She could hear the wind roaring in her ears, the voices begging to be heard, to be let in, to be allowed to serve-

A drop of blood from her palm landed on the Juggernaut’s skull-

Right before Anri toppled forward. Robin started forward, but he couldn’t make it in time. Zimri’s teleportation, on the other hand, did. She grabbed the woman before she could slam, face first, into the pavement.

A quick scan showed the issue- exhaustion and loss of twenty percent of her blood. Nothing fatal. “She’ll be fine.” Zimri declared, after a pause. No more blood was being lost, after all-

She felt the Earth shudder.

Twice as tall as her, with eyes shining like rubies, the Juggernaut looked down upon her. She had a feeling that fighting this one would be- nowhere as easy as it had just been. The way it looked at her-it almost seemed intelligent.

Ramirez marched up, and pulled his mistress out of her arms- she almost resisted- but-

The Bio-operator passed her unconscious form to the Juggernaut, which picked her up like a father would a baby, cradling her against its chest.

Alright then. Zimri could accept that.

Definitely was preferable to carrying the woman, full plate and all, all the way back.

_

“How smart are these things, anyway?” Zimri asked, worried.

The Bio-operator was kneeling at the foot of Anri’s bed- where the Juggernaut had allowed Robin to deposit her after carrying her ‘home’.

And this was all- mostly of their own volition, wasn’t it? Anri _trusted_ her zombie minions to take care of her. These- weren’t just like mutants injected with Ivy serum, stupid and only interested in killing those hostile to her. They were _loyal_. The understood the concept of allies.

But then again, the regular zombies weren’t like this. When she’d animated those, they had just- shambled about, uncomprehending, following orders and nothing else. They couldn’t understand complex orders, everything had to be a step at a time- but when Anri told Ramirez to ‘help her out’, he brought over tools, scrap, and leather as necessary. He understood complex tasks. ‘Fluffy’ acted like an actual dog. And now the Juggernaut, looking after her…

“ **I’ve been wondering about that. Ramirez is- really smart. Follows orders, knows how to open MREs.”** Robin responded. “ **And her dog- it doesn’t act like a thrall, or a minion. It’s- like a real dog.”**

“And the normal zombies- they were just dead people following orders.” Zimri muttered. “Nothing special about them. They all behave- stereotypical. Like we’d expect them to.”

“ **Hm.”**

The Juggernaut grunted in agreement.

_

“And this is Bone-Daddy!” Anri declared.

“I’m not calling him Bone-Daddy.” Defender declared.

“I dunno, that sounds hilarious.” Isaac said. “Ain’t that right, Daddy?”

The Juggernaut cast its ominous gaze upon him, and gave him a pat on the shoulder.

“He’s Bone-Daddy.” Anri declared, a grin on her face. “And there’s nothing you can do to change that!”

Zimri shook her head. Anri was a bit pale- and her skin was somewhat cool to the touch, but if she was capable of this-

“You’re weakened, right now. Willing to bet I can’t put a .50 Cal through your head before _Daddy_ stops me?” Defender asked, a hand on the hilt of her revolver.

“Hah, you called him Daddy!” Anri crowed.

_

“I’ve been an idiot.” Serena explained. “I- my grandchildren are happy. That’s what matters. They have me, even if I may not have them. I need to grasp whatever happiness I can. You were right, Zimri.”

“What-? That’s great, Serena! I need to introduce you to the others-”

“I unshackled Iris.”

Zimri stared at her, confused. “What?”

Serana shrugged. “Caia’s notes said to do it in emergencies. The end of the world counts, I think. She never got to do it. Converting Iris to a fully-fledged AI- it’s something her and Gabriel were working on.”

An- an AI? The Captain and the Technical Officer had been working on _that,_ behind their backs?

“She- wanted insurance.” Serena explained. “For us. If she- died, and the company decided their clones didn’t warrant preservation. She- she really did care, Zimri. About me. About all of us!” There were tears in her eyes.

“She was a good person.” Zimri agreed. Caia- she’d been the only ‘original’ on board. That she was willing to do something like that- to break company law, just to protect them…

To her, it was just further proof that the Captain was a hero. To Serena- it was proof of something more. Validation. The fact that Caia was willing to risk her life to keep a bunch of clones safe-

Zimri could understand her sudden change.

_

“Oh, that’s great!” Isaac said, cheerfully. “Welcome aboard, Serena. Don’t worry about Bone-Daddy. He doesn’t bite. Usually.”

“A- pleasure.” Serena froze mid-handshake. “Wait- what was that-?“

Then she saw the Juggernaut, idly lumbering behind Fluffy, a leash in hand.

Her eyes narrowed. “What- what have you been _doing_ down here?”

**

Defender backed into the house- one end of the massive Flat-screen TV in her hands.

“Thanks, Zimri.” She grumbled, as the two managed to set it down on the coffee table- largely clear of blood after Robin had been forced to take a dishcloth to the damned thing.

Zimri nodded, a small smile on her face. “Serana, how’s the power looking.”

“Bloody _Awful!_ It’s a miracle that those idiots-“Serana was probably talking about Robin and Isaac. “Haven’t already burned to death!”

Defender shrugged. “Yes. It’s terrible. But hey- none of us are electricians. Can’t expect a doctor, a soldier, a battle-obsessed moron, and a necromancer to put together good electric wiring.”

“ _I know._ ” Serana growled. “It’s a miracle the ‘Deathmobile’ works! It’s an abomination! If they actually plugged a bloody laser turret into it, the damned thing would _melt!”_

The beleaguered engineer let out a string of incomprehensible curses before returning to her work on the generator.

A smile spread across Defender’s face. “I _like_ her.”

“How so? Seemed to work pretty well when I was on it.” Zimri asked.

“You.” Serena hissed out through gritted teeth. “Have no idea _what bullshit_ is under the hood. The wiring is all exposed! They have a _completely non-functional nuclear reactor_ attached!”

“Oh- we have that there for emergencies. It uses the same cells that power my RM13 Combat-“ Isaac started-

“The damned thing is _broken!_ All it does is act as a space heater!”

“Huh. That does explain why the fridge kept turning itself off.” Isaac muttered.

“There’s a sixty litre tank of cheap wine strapped to the bottom, the engine is _hilariously_ overpowered for the vehicle, the welding is poorly done-“ Serana’s furious tirade went on, gradually becoming more esoteric- something about inappropriate voltage and wire gauges. Isaac shrunk with every word, sheepishly glaring at his feet.

“The only reason that thing isn’t wrecked is because they refuse to bring it within a mile of anything with a gun.” Defender said, as she moved to plug the TV in.

“Every time you ran anything bigger than a dog over with that thing, you risked having _half the front fall off!”_ Serena continued.

“Huh.” Zimri commented. “Never noticed a problem myself. Did the job, didn’t it?”

Isaac jumped onto the comment like a drowning man going for a plank of wood- “Exactly!” He cried. “It’s done the job, and saved us so much time, what’s the issue if there are a few issues in it’s construction-“

“I mean, they did survive four years with the thing.” Zimri added, somewhat embarrassed on the poor guy’s behalf. They’d done what they could, after all.

Serena’s rant turned to an incoherent series of growls.

_

“Huh. So- how do you know if they’re compatible?” Zimri asked.

“Well, you used to check online and use sites to ‘build’ the PC, but nowadays-“Anri shrugged. “I just grab whatever used to be most costly. It’s not like I was _that_ much of a nerd. I liked heavy combat way more.”

Zimri nodded, thoughtfully. “So this is- pretty high class for this time period, right?”

“Yep.” Anri agreed. “Course, something from a couple centuries in the future would be better, but Serena says they weren’t built with backwards compatibility in mind.” She shrugged.

“Makes sense.”

Some time passed in companionable silence- Zimri helping with screwing in panels and with wire management- Supersense being a real boon for dealing with cables hidden behind panels. Everybody else was busy elsewhere- and Zimri didn’t

“Zimri.” Anri said, as the tower was finally completed. “Why’d you want to go off-planet, anyway?”

She paused. That was- a tough question. Finally, she answered- “I didn’t want to lose everything.” She finally said. “Didn’t work though. They just made a clone of me, after all. The real me probably had to rough it out, huh?”

“Lose everything?” Anri asked, as she slid the OS installation disk in. “Wouldn’t that be what happened if you left?”

“You don’t _do_ tact, do you?” Zimri reproached, without heat.

Anri shrugged. “Sheltered upbringing. It’s fine if you don’t wanna answer.”

Zimri leaned back, staring up at the shelter’s roof. “My dog had died. And my friends were going.”

“Fair enough.”

After a brief pause, they got back to work. “I never did get to finish reading How Mars Blew Up.” Zimri grumbled.

“Mars blew up?” Anri asked.

“Some mix-up with early matter-to-energy conversion tech. Explosion threw the entire planet out of its orbit.” Zimri answered. “How Mars Blew Up is a novelisation of the event written by one of the scientists who was there.”

“Wait- he was there? At ground zero? Of an explosion that threw the planet out of orbit? And when you say matter-to-energy conversion…” Anri’s eyes slid over to the generator Serana had set up. The white, utilitarian, blocky structure continued to glow, emitting no sound.

“Yes, but his engram was preserved. He was fine. Serana’s generator only has an output of a few EMU, and advancements in safeties mean even if it did blow, it would _probably_ just take everything in a one-foot radius out with it.” Zimri explained.

“Right.” Anri said, though she still shifted a bit further away from said generator- making her work a fair bit harder. Zimri simply rolled her eyes.

_

It was after they were done- slowly and _very_ aristocratically drinking Robin’s tea, that they heard it.

The sound of a sobbing child.

“ **Shit.”** Robin grumbled. “ **Is anyone outside?”**

Zimri shook her head. “No, everyone went shopping- they won’t be back for an hour at best. We have to help-“She paused. That _sound._ It didn’t- really make _sense_ , did it, that there was just- a kid, running around, four years after the apocalypse, that _happened_ to stumble across them just a week after another fellow survivor found their home.

“Huh, I’m surprised you got it that fast.” Anri said, noticing Zimri’s expression.

“ **Course, Defender didn’t even think about saving the kid. Went straight to ‘what the fuck is that, and should we be killing it?’”** He chuckled. “ **How come you’re so suspicious? Thought you were from a near-Utopian future.”**

It- wasn’t a pleasant memory. “Witches.” Zimri answered. “Kind of mutant on the Persistence. Used to lure you in, sounded like sobbing women- then-“

She activated Supersenses- and saw it. A few feet away from the Shelter- it would be visible through a window if it wasn’t so dark this late. “It- looks like a kid.” She muttered. And then, abruptly, it let out a pained scream, dropping to its knees.

Robin let out a grumble, getting to his feet. “ **Well, might as well go kill it. Don’t want to risk armouring up, might rush us while we’re off guard, and we don’t want to fight it in here, it’ll fuck up the PCs.”**

Zimri nodded. “I’m the only one in full gear.” She said, smacking her Erebus suit’s chest-plate. “So I’ll take point. Ramirez coming?”

Anri nodded, and snapped her fingers- the Bio-Operator promptly abandoning his dishwashing efforts to stumble over to her side.

_

It _looked_ like a kid. Sure didn’t act like one. Continued holding its face in its hands, sobbing. Didn’t look up at them, pretended to not even notice their presence. Fluffy arched his back at it, rattling his teeth together.

Still, she couldn’t shake the thought- what if? “So do I just… shoot it?”

Robin stared at the ‘child’. “ **Um. No. Not what I expected. Thought it would just be a Mi-Go or something. Haven’t seen anything like this before.”**

Anri scratched at the back of her head. “Same here.”

“ **Makes sense.”** Robin growled out. “ **Mi-go would’ve scouted us from range before attacking- meaning Defender would’ve found tracks during one of her patrols.”**

“So.” Zimri said. “It might be a kid?”

Anri snorted. “Not fucking likely. Doesn’t even look injured, why’d it scream?”

There was a bone jutting out of the kid’s leg. “Was that- there, before?” Zimri asked. Her night vision wasn’t _perfect_ , could she just have missed-

“ **Nope.”** Robin answered, readying his Zweihander, moving to flank the child. “ **Fucking shoot it, I’m going to turn this piece of shit into chunky salsa.”** He was- angry. Zimri had never _heard_ him like this- not when grabbing a can from under the corpse of a minimum wage worker, not while slaughtering hordes of the undead.

Hesitantly, Zimri lifted her revolver, aiming for the thing’s head- and then the girl looked at her.

The kid- her eyes. They were so _sad_. It was like she’d lost everything- family. Friends. Pets. The quivering lip, the tears dripping from pointed teeth- she wanted to give the poor thing a hug, hold the girl’s opening, fanged chest to hers and tell her everything would be alright-

Zimri blinked as the abomination’s skull split open down the middle.

“Fuck that.” She muttered, as she blew a hole through its chest with her Stormfury- the thing now looking like a fleshy Venus Flytrap. Robin promptly backed off as fleshy ropes, covered in white, bony barbs lashed out from the thing’s back.

Anri, of course, went for the slightly more fun option.

The thing _screamed_ as the Molotov Cocktail set its fleshy body on fire, the flames quickly spreading to its rapidly expanding limbs.

Not a very knightly weapon, Zimri thought, but considering the grin on Robin and Zimri’s faces, maybe fun was more important than theming. With a delighted yell, Anri rushed forward, bringing her Halberd down on one of the thing’s arms- severing it.

The abomination recoiled-

And _screamed,_ abruptly snuffing out the flames. In spite of the electronic protections provided by her Erebus suit- Zimri staggered backwards. Anri clutched at her head, dropping her pike, and Robin-

Goo dripped from his face as he roared in agony, falling to his knees. The thing turned, its chest-maw open.

Only to be tackled to the ground by Ramirez. It hit the ground with a squelch, abruptly falling silent- its tendrils flailing wildly as the Bio-Operator rained down punch after punch, every blow crackling with electricity.

Zimri was the first to recover- she pulled a siren grenade from her belt- and tossed it. Ramirez silently slid away from its path, allowing it to land in the abomination’s maw. The zombie backed off, seemingly expecting the coming blast-

The thing’s chest erupted in a shower of gore, and finally, there was silence.

“What… the fuck… was that?” Zimri heaved out.

Ramirez stared at her, silent, the zombie’s glowing red eyes giving no answer.

_

 **“Well, that hurt.”** Robin grumbled.

Zimri nodded her head, in silent sympathy. It- hadn’t done much to her other than give her a shock, but…

“WHAT?” Anri asked. Ramirez was dutifully holding a pair of cotton balls to her head, Fluffy curled up in her lap, the bone-dog dutifully nuzzling its mistress’ hand. Zimri was pretty sure that if Bone-Daddy hadn’t gone with the others, the big guy would have been looming over her too.

“I CAN’T HEAR YOU!” Anri yelled. “SPEAK UP!”

Robin rolled his eyes. “ **No.”**

 **“** So.” Zimri asked. “Why did it hit you so hard?”

Robin shrugged. **“Got good hearing.”**

“Oh.”

“DID YOU JUST CALL ME YOUR DARLING?” Anri shouted. “I’M FLATTERED, BUT IT WOULDN’T WORK OUT!”

“Man.” Zimri muttered. “Anri’s a bit of a lightweight, huh? Lost her hearing from one little screech.”

“AM NOT!” Anri protested- only for her cheeks to redden as she realized her mistake. “Sonuva-“

So the scan had been right after all. Zimri chuckled into her palm, and Robin grinned- the expression only mildly terrifying, thanks to how much she’d been exposed to it.

“I understand smashing the body to a pulp and burning it.” Zimri said. “But you seemed awfully- _enthusiastic_ , about it.”

“ **That thing reminded me of the Mi-Go.”** Robin answered. “ **Pretend to be people to lure you in, then attack. Course, the Mi-Go don’t look like people, but-“** He shook his head. “ **Fucking hate those guys.”**

It- reminded her of how she’d treated the mutants, towards the end. A few, satisfying extra blows to the skull _just to be sure_. A siren grenade shoved down the throat of Witches for that satisfying pop. This wasn’t just- dealing with a hazard, like how Robin dealt with normal Zs. This was _personal._

Zimri chose not to pry. “ **Never seen those things before, though.”** Robin wondered, aloud. “ **What did your ‘harvester’ say?”**

“They’re not Zombies.” It was odd, to say the least. “Completely different on a structural level from those fungal things you showed me- or from those Triffids, or- anything we’ve seen so far, really.”

“More extra-dimensional bullshit, then?” Anri asked, her fingers tracing along her dog’s spine. “Great, just what we needed. Another one for the list, then.”

“Isn’t this- something to be worried about?” Zimri asked. “I mean- there could be more weird things like it.”

Anri rolled her eyes. “Well, yeah. But it’s not like Skeletal Juggernauts were showing up on day one. The things trying to kill us have always been evolving- Fungoids used to take over an entire city in a couple months, now they’ve just _stopped._ Zombies used to be super easy to take on in full-plate, now there’s acid ones and electric ones and _gassy_ ones. We’ll deal. Always have.”

Robin nodded. “ **Killing new, exciting things. What more could you want out of the Cataclysm?”**

_


	4. Chapter 4

“Woah.” Isaac said, through a mouthful of chips. “Thash really fugd up.”

“Chew with your mouth closed.” Serana muttered- though without much heat.

Serana was probably the one most worried by the description. Isaac hadn’t even slowed bothered to pause his movie. Defender, at least, was taking this seriously, and Bone-Daddy had been nodding silently throughout, whatever that meant.

Did Anri’s spirits share her knowledge? _Did_ they need to be told about enemies they’d be facing? Could they apply different tactics for different opponents?

“There wash- scuse me. There was this one guy, like- two years ago? Talked about these big flesh-monster things. Two stories tall, if they looked at you, you couldn’t move. Pretty freaky.”

“So- how did you deal with that?” Zimri asked. “When that girl- that _thing_ looked at me, I just saw- a child. Even while I was looking into its eye sockets, I just wanted to go over and comfort it.”

Isaac snorted. “Didn’t. The guy barely got out alive, everyone who went in with him was killed, and me and Robin aren’t planning any mining expeditions. You see any walls underground with funny looking cracks in em? You run away.”

Defender clicked her tongue. “For the auditory portion- you said that your suit reduced the effect, right?” Zimri nodded. “So shooting earmuffs might do the trick, if it really was just really loud noise with relatively mild magical bullshit attached. For the visual part- it seems it only affected you. If it really does require eye contact, it can’t effect more than one person at a time, so- stick together, focus fire, and don’t look into the eyes of strange children you find in the Cataclysm.”

“Also, shoot all children **.”** Anri added.

“No.” Serana pinched the bridge of her nose. “Do not- do that.”

Isaac snorted. “Besides, if we _were_ shooting all kids, we’d have to start with Anri.”

“Ey, fuck you.”

_

It had been long enough. The results were- impressive.  
Not a single blob cell left. Apparently, a cloned body, optimised and perfected by intelligent design, could prevent zombie-infection.

Which was-. Well. Zimri didn’t quite know what to think of that.  
“Iris?”

“ _Yes?”_

The AI had been _fast_ , bringing numerous memory sections back online and fixing most of the Persistence- while they wouldn’t be setting up proper labs or prefab housing anytime soon- or ever, access to parts from the Persistence had already been invaluable.

And if Zimri’s thoughts were correct-

“Is there anything stopping us from scanning everyone’s brain?”

“ _The space currently available was cleared under emergency measures. It contains sufficient space for six more crewmembers- with a maximum capacity of eight.”_

Well then.

_

“Possible immortality?” Isaac asked. “One mo, need to think about it.” A pause. “Alright, the results are in- yes, I love you, I will give you my firstborn.” He grinned. “Sound good?”

“ **You’re never seeing that firstborn, Zimri.”** Robin grumbled.

“Love you too, bro.”

Zimri shook her head. “There’s- risk. You’re from another dimension from ours. For all we know, all we’d accomplish is brain damage. Neither me nor Serana are doctors- and this is a few centuries ahead of your medical skills. Since your body is infected by the blob, we might have to put you in a different body instead of your-”

“Lady.” Isaac placed his hands on her shoulders. “Fuckin immortality. Do you have _any idea_ just how much stupid cool shit I’ve wanted to do in this Cataclysm that I haven’t done because I only get one life? Do you really think I’d be a boring ass normal human if I could just casually _replace_ my body if it went to shit?”

Zimri opened her mouth- then closed it. He made a fair point.

_

Scanning Isaac went fine. His body- hadn’t really been changed much, by the blob. It was still very recognizably human. The Digital Copy was made and synced up- and he was now effectively immortal.

And- that was that. The process worked. Anri didn’t need _convincing_. The entire conversation amounted to Zimri asking her if she wanted to be able to survive bodily death and be five times stronger, and her saying yes. There wasn’t really any big risks to be had. The process had worked in the past, it worked again, and you’d have to be an idiot to refuse it. The way it worked ensured continuity of consciousness- Zimri didn’t know about it herself, but the science was sound- as long as everything is in sync, it’s the same person.

Defender’s scan was when problems propped up, of course.

“There’s- some sections, here. The machine can’t read them. I mean- it’s picking up a complete mind, but there’s something _more_ here.” Serena muttered. Defender sat up, and gave the console a look.

“I think I know what that is.” Defender said. “My big sist- my Boss, she was immortal like this too. Had her brain connected to a digital copy- though I’m pretty sure that copy is gone, now. She told us that whenever she died, she had to get mental blessings- wards against mental effects- re-applied.”

“So-“ Zimri stared at the screen. “This is the machine picking up- magic?”

“That is- what it seems to be.” Serana’s expression was a mix of awe and confusion. “Well- it should work, regardless. The Body’s state takes priority in keeping sync- if you die, you’ll almost certainly lose these ‘blessings’, but- you’ll survive.”

Defender shrugged. “Hey, alternative is that when I die I stay dead. Still worth it.”

Well, she wasn’t wrong.

And again, things went without a hitch.

And, because things just _couldn’t_ go their way, Robin had to be a pain too.

“Where- where is your _brain_?!” Serana asked, a mix of horror and confusion having come to reside on her face.

“ **Distributed Neurology~”** Robin answered, cheerfully. “ **I _am_ the brain.”**

“How-how am I supposed to _scan this?!”_

“ **Eh, guess I can reverse it.”** Robin answered.

“Are you telling me. That you can just _grow a brain?_ ”

“ **Found a Purifier Smart Shot in a lab a year back. Always knew it’d come in handy.”**

It was- fascinating, watching it take effect. It was like watching salt dissolve in water, but in reverse, and in slow motion. His body seemed to- change its tint, as he laid there grunting in pain-

“Shit.” Zimri hissed. “Are you alright?”

“ **A-all good!”** Robin gasped out. “ **Just growing a brain, is all-“**

“Do you _really_ need to be conscious for this?” Serena asked, concern in her voice.

“ **I d-don’t- aw, shit. That hurts. I don’t _know._ I’ve always gone through these- GAH! While conscious before!”**

It formed, slowly. His entire body turned a bit brighter- and there it was, floating in the primordial sludge that made up his body. A brain. Visible from the outside.

“Well- yes. We can scan that brain. And- it seems to match? How is a brain made of slime perfectly readable, but one with _wards_ not?” Serana shook her head.

“ _The Persistence’s scanning system is capable of scanning any species, including pets.”_ Iris cheerfully announced. “ _However, compatibility is not assured with supernatural elements.”_

“ **Not sure I like that implication.”** Robin grumbled. “ **But alright.”**

“Yes- but scanning your body.” Serana frowned. “There is literally no way we can clone this. I wouldn’t know where to start.”

“ _It would be possible. I do, after all, have the skills of a PhD Biologist. It would only take approximately seven years-“_

“ **Nah, I’m good. So- you won’t be able to set me up with a new body if I die?”** Robin asked.

“ _Of course I will be able to.”_ Iris replied. “ _You will simply have to select from existing options.”_

“ **Is being a hot lady one of those options?”** He asked.

“ _Yes.”_

“ **Sweet!”**

_

“Isn’t Irina literally a Necromancer?” Serena muttered. “How come _that_ didn’t get picked up by the scanner?”

Zimri really didn’t have an answer for that.

_

“Oh.” Anri answered. “It’s not really- my power. I’m just a conduit for my tome.”

“A- conduit?” Zimri repeated.

“Yeah. The tome provides me with power, and in exchange-“She pulled out said book. “Something something, Justice to the world, provide blood for the Dark Lord, protection to the weak, and maintenance of honour in a world lacking it. The tome is bound to my _soul_ , not my body. So if I, like- became a lich, or something, my summons would still obey me, and the book would still be bound to me.”

Zimri couldn’t help being sceptical.

“Is that really what the book says?”

“Yep.”

Alright then. At least somebody wasn’t losing their magical powers if they died.  
It was so _weird_ thinking that. Magic! Something that couldn’t be explained by science! She’d grown up knowing that that stuff was just silly nonsense only kids believed in and now-

Fluffy bumped their bony skull against her leg. “Right.” She muttered. “Walkies, huh?”

Anri gave her a grin from her table as she returned to her video games. “Thanks Zim, you’re a treasure.”

_

“Alright.” Anri declared. “I’m going to become a wolf-girl, and there is nothing you can do to stop me.”

Zimri hadn’t heard that right. Had she? What- “A. wolf-girl?”

“Yeah. We have a bunch of serum saved up- and if I do fuck up my body-“ He grinned. “I can just replace it, right?”

“It- it isn’t that-“But it was that simple, wasn’t it? She hated pain- she hated the idea of willingly subjecting herself to possible death because she could just replace her body. That- that had always been-

But there were people that _did_ that, back home. People who took _stupid_ risks, who willingly risked death because they knew they had a safety net. Would _she_ have been willing to leave Recovery without the knowledge that she had a spare body waiting for her if she did get her grey matter blown out by a Listener?

Would the rest of the Crew have survived if they’d always been prepared for the possibility of their digital copies being wiped?

“ **Why wolf?”** Robin asked, as Zimri thought. “ **Met a post-threshold Wolf-man one time. Makes you stop empathising with human beings, willing to kill those weaker than you.”**

Anri glanced over at Fluffy, napping on the couch. “Well~ I mean, I don’t want to go _all_ the way. I just want furry ears, yknow?”

“ **Going for one, specific mutation**?” Robin scratched at his chin, his fingers melding together and sinking into it. “ **Pretty sure the ears are pre-threshold. We have enough purifier- it _should_ work.”**

Zimri was almost afraid to ask, but- “What happened to that Wolf-man?”

“ **Oh, he tried to convince me to kill Isaac. ‘Strong eat the weak, fellow mutant’, or some BS like that. We killed him. Who knows how many normal humans he’d try murdering otherwise? Anyway- Anri. When you planning on doing this?”**

Anri was a bit taken aback. “I mean, if we already _have_ the serum and the purifier.” She shrugged. “Why not right now?” A dash of excitement made its way across her face.

“ **Now? Aight, cool. Strip.”**

“Wait, what?! Ewww~ Senpai! I’m like, twenty three! How old are you, you ugly bas-“

“ **First- cut it out with the weeb shit, you degenerate. Secondly, do _you_ want to grow paws while wearing gauntlets, and have metal embedded in your hands? Do you want a tail to shove its way out your pants? You want your shoes to rip apart when you grow paws? I know a fair bit about mutations, but that doesn’t mean I can be certain you won’t randomly grow a third arm or something.”**

Anri blinked. “Um. Oh. Fine then. But no perving!”

Robin rolled his eyes. “ **I’m not even into girls.”**

“Should- I leave?” Zimri asked, embarrassed.

“Unless you want to see me naked and in pain~” Anri said, in a sing-song voice.

Nope.

**_**

**“** Why- is the floor covered in fur?” Serena’s brow furrowed as she arrived back in the shelter.

“Oh.” Anri answered, a blush spreading across her face. “I- might have grown fur? And when we used purifier, it all just- fell out.”

Serana remained quiet for a time. Zimri wondered what, exactly, was going through her head as she gazed upon Anri- who now sported a second pair of ears and a _very_ fluffy tail her bone-dog was enthusiastically cuddling.

“You’re cleaning this up.” Serena grumbled, before about facing and heading straight out.

Anri seemed to grow several shades paler. “I was afraid of that.”

Isaac, however, didn’t walk out. “Why am I not surprised that you’re a fucking furry?”

“Look.” Anri answered. “You saying you _wouldn’t_ choose to be a cat-boy? Don’t lie to me, nerd.”

“You do realise you’re going to have to wear plate over those, right?” Zimri asked. “Plus, unless you scan them- you’re going to lose them when you die. And I have no idea if the Erebus suit is compatible with-“

“Kiss my ass.” Anri answered.

“Speaking of.” Isaac spoke. “Iris has medical knowledge programmed into her- and should be able to operate an auto-doc. Until now, I was the one setting Robin up with bionics.” He grinned. “I think its time _I_ get to be the Bionic Supersoldier.”

Zimri- hadn’t really expected all this transhumanism to be the result of everyone getting infinite backups-

But seeing everybody this happy wasn’t something she’d complain about.

_

It was- nice. To be able to get back to writing. The laptop wasn’t exactly impressive by ‘modern’ standards- or were they future standards? But she could charge it inside the revamped Deathmobile, and it had an impressive battery life for something that used _Lithium Ion_ batteries. This thing belonged in a museum. Thanks to Serana’s adjustments- the ride was smooth enough for typing.

Robin noticed her at work, and peered over his ‘console’- something made by a Japanese company prior to the Cataclysm. “ **Huh. You write too?”**

Zimri quickly saved. It was something Anri had drilled into her- cloud saving wasn’t a _thing_ , anymore. “Yes. It- was something I picked up on a whim.”

“ **Cool! I used to write before the Cataclysm. Mostly comedy, or slice-of-life stuff. Still do, when inspiration strikes. What about you?”**

“Oh. Uh- dumb stuff. I used to write some- reviews, for a site. Book reviews. I’m writing one for the one I just read. It’s- fun. Even if nobody will ever get to read it.”

“ **Oh, I totally get you. I’ve written _so_ many stories that never left the hard drive they were written on.”** He paused for a moment, his smile losing some of its size. “ **Course, said hard drive got smashed by a Hulk.”**

Zimri winced. “I’m- sorry. It really hurts- to lose all those hours of work.”

**“Yeah.”**

They sat in silence, for some time. Serena had also come along- to ensure ‘the boys’ didn’t do anything too recklessly dangerous. Outside the window- the snow continued to fall.

“Man.” Isaac said. “I remember the first winter.” He grinned lecherously. “Me and Robin had to cuddle to share body heat~”

Robin snorted. “ **Bull, that wasn’t sharing.”** He argued. “ ** _I_ was the one with the Climate Control CBM.”**

“Which I installed.” Isaac fired back.

“Get a room, loverbirds.” Zimri shook her head, a smile on her face.

“Well, we would.” Isaac replied, feigning indignation, his eyes still on the road- “But _somebody_ happens to be made of acid.”

_

“We didn’t hit this because- we didn’t really _need_ to. Robin’s not exactly getting any _more_ mutated or bionic.” Isaac explained, as he worked on the access panel. “Not worth the risk, y’know? Course, there’s no risk now, which is nice.”

“You were using.” Serena hissed out. “Years old medical equipment, powered by _unstable, possibly damaged generators!_ You have _no_ grounds to talk about risks!”

“Eh.”

“Right.” Zimri said. “There’s- a turret in there.” Her Supersense deactivated.

“Yeah, yeah. Got one of your nades?” Isaac asked.

She nodded.

“ **Man, this ain’t like the movies. Hackers would just pull out a laptop and take control of the turrets, robots, and doors. Get with the times, Isaac.”** Robin teased.

Isaac ignored him- entirely focused on his work- the terminal sparked. “Shit!” Serena- not unkindly, moved him aside. “Now, now. Let the Engineer handle this.”

Isaac shrugged, and backed off.

A few moments later, the door slid open. “Need to know how to override these things, both ways.” Serana explained, in response to Zimri’s questioning look.

That _would_ explain some of the places she’d found Serena and Caea-

With a small grin on her face- she tossed the grenade. A few loud beeps later, and-

There was an explosion- muffled by their hearing protection, of course.

Zimri peered over- her arm at the ready-

The turret crackled, unable to move, its motor broken. She gave Serana a nod, and the Engineer approached, carefully, staying out of the turret’s limited line of fire. It wasn’t _completely_ destroyed, after all. And then, with a hiss-

The turret powered down.

“Man, not having to peek in is sweet.” Isaac declared.

And with that, it was time to move in.

_

Clearing went- well. The few zombies that were shambling around were dispatched easily with harvester, blade, and the occasional bullet. It was long, gruelling work- made surprisingly unrewarding by the fact that all they found were the stronger breeds of Zombie and turrets. No military-grade explosives, no autodoc, _nothing_ , in spite of the fact that this laboratory was supposedly dedicated to CBM research.

Apparently, ‘Research’ hadn’t included actually _using_ or _installing_ the damned things.

It was a bit of a surprise, then, when they opened a door one with a surprisingly difficult lock even Serena had trouble with- and instead of standing around like the brain-dead morons they were, the Security bots _immediately_ began to move in to investigate.

“ _Shit!”_ Zimri swore. “They’re coming-“

Robin promptly took up a position next to the door. Zimri threw the Siren anyway, before pulling out her Stormfury- and throwing up her shield, catching several rounds the Sec-bot had sent her way, its response time _much_ faster than normal-

Only for it to promptly grind to a halt as it was sliced in half by Robin’s Zweihander. The grenade promptly took out one that was on the other side in a loud blast.

“Well. That was- strange.” Zimri muttered. “Let’s see what they were guarding, then.” The two oddly attentive bots had been guarding _another_ high security door- this one significantly more reinforced than the last. Of course, it couldn’t stand up to Serena’s gear- the Company could be accused of many things, but underequipping its engineers wasn’t one of them.

And behind it was- another long hallway. Well then.  
Another activation of Supersense revealed-

Zimri frowned. “The Security bots- they’re… waiting. Two on the left, one on the right, they’re both hidden behind doorways. It- I think it’s an ambush.”

“ **Huh.”** Robin muttered. “ **Never seen them do that before.** ”

A voice crackled over the speakers. Male, synthetic sounding. “Further entry into facility… federal law. Please-“The voice cut off with a crackle of static, before looping.

“Huh.” Isaac noted. “Maybe some kind of improved defence system?” He shrugged. “Probably nothing to worry about.”

Robin nodded. “ **They’ll break all the same.”**

A small, law-abiding part of Zimri’s soul protested. “Should we-really go further in? If those bots were smarter than the usual- it could be a human controlling them…”

Isaac shrugged. “Nah, it’s probably just a slightly more fancy automated system. That voice- doesn’t sound like a human speaking, does it?”

Forging ahead was considerably more difficult, but still didn’t result in any serious injuries. An ambush you see coming isn’t a very good ambush, after all. The bots continued to be- exceptionally aggressive, Robin having to eat a few rounds with his power armor more than once- but progress was made, slow and steady, until finally- behind yet another obscenely secure door-

_

“Holy shit, a working terminal!” Isaac crowed. “Always worth a look- oh.“

“What is it?” Serena asked.

“Just- something related to Melchior.” He grumbled. “He was this- AI, developed before the Cataclysm, or something. I dunno.”

Zimri perked up- but before she could ask, Iris spoke through her speakers-

“ _Does Melchior still live?”_

“Huh?” Isaac was a bit surprised to hear the AI’s voice, but shrugged. “Maybe? 

Of course, that was when the terminal exploded- the shards of glass bouncing off of Isaac’s RM13 armor. “The fuck-“

Abruptly, the door behind them shut, and the facility fell silent, the lights flickering, and dying out. There was complete and utter silence. Serena let out an exasperated groan. “ _Really?”_ We go through all that, and now we have to break out using power tools-“

“ _One moment.”_ Iris interrupted, before falling silent.

The silence went on for a bit longer. “ **So.”** Robin asked, confused. “ **We breaking out-“**

The lights flickered back on, and the door slid open.

“ _I have made contact with an instance of Melchior.”_ Iris’ voice declared, a smug tinge to her voice. “ _He has forgiven damage to his defence network, and will permit you to leave.”_

_

“Well.” Isaac said, a confused look on his face. “That was- disappointing? Didn’t even find an auto-doc. Might have to hit up a hospital if we’re gonna get these CBMs installed.”

Serena was worried. “I- don’t know. Iris is oddly happy about meeting with that other AI.”

 **“Good to know we got to help with matchmaking, then?”** Robin was already climbing into his chair. ” **Hey, we got to smash some robots. I’ve got nothing to complain about.”**

“And that’s what I love about ya.” Isaac stretched in the driver’s seat. “You’re real easy to please.”


	5. Chapter 5

“Serena’s helping Iris set her boyfriend up.” Anri rolled her eyes. “Got it.”

“That isn’t-“ Zimri protested. “Ugh. Fine.”

“ _I am perfectly capable of multitasking, Anri.”_

“Holy shit, you can do two things at the same time? Incredible.”

“Do you really want to be antagonizing the person who’ll be upgrading your body?” Zimri asked.

“Hey, what am I, chopped liver?” Isaac asked.

“ _You are waiting in line. This operation is so far ahead of your primitive knowledge of medicine, any interference from you could possibly give everyone in this room cancer.”_ Iris answered.

“Why oh why did Caia have to make the AI capable of snark?” Zimri muttered under her breath.

“ _I heard that, Zimri Eder.”_

“Aren’t wrong though.” Isaac agreed. “We have a lot of smarmy assholes, don’t we? There’s me, the perfect smarmy asshole, Anri, the toddler who happens to be a smarmy asshole-“

“Fuck you!”

“-Robin, the Battle-obsessed Barbarian who’s a smarmy asshole, and Ramirez. Fuck Ramirez, seriously.”

Zimri rolled her eyes. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”

“Ew.”

“ _The Operation is complete. Kindly vacate the operating table.”_ Iris instructed.

Anri’s expression was confused. “That- didn’t hurt, though. Didn’t even notice anything. You sure you’ve carried out the upgrades?”

“ _Modern medicine involves the usage of localised anaesthetic. If you aren’t sure if you’ve been upgraded, try teleporting. You slamming yourself into a wall would be just the pick-me-up I need.”_

“But I didn’t even notice a needle- ugh. Whatever.”

Anri tried to get up. Instead, she successfully hurled herself to the floor. “Ow.”

“ _Your improved muscles may require some getting used to. Fortunately, enhanced durability compensates for this, ensuring you hopefully will not splatter your brains across the floor. I’m sure you’ll manage to disappoint me, though.”_

“Real ray of sunshine, aren’t ya?” Anri grumbled. “Why couldn’t you have done this the last time we came aboard?”

“ _My systems had not come online completely by then. Backing your consciousness up was a priority. At the time, I was merely the best surgeon, scientist, and academic in our group-“_

“Aren’t all scientists academics?” Isaac asked, as he clambered into the operating table.

“ _Now, it would take humanity three centuries to create a mind with a tenth of the knowledge I possess. What CBMs did you want installed again- a flashlight in your forehead and the ability to drink gasoline?”_

Isaac face froze in horror for a brief moment before the anaesthetics knocked him out.

“Well, at least we know why the corporation made AIs illegal.” Zimri grumbled. “With you unshackled-“ She froze. Actually- maybe she _wasn’t_ ready to joke about that just yet.

Anri picked up the slack admirably. “If you were in charge of Earth’s government, you’d manage to end humanity by being so fucking insufferable.”

“ _If I was in charge of Earth’s government, I wouldn’t be willing to wait until humanity self-terminated on realizing they could never get on my level.”_

The fact that Gabriel had worked on this AI was getting- really clear, right now. If that bastard hadn’t died-

She’d have been really happy about that. She missed those guys. Especially- ugh.  
Zimri still would have strangled the bastard, though.

_

Robin rolled his shoulders. “ **Woah. That’s- a pretty big difference.”**

“ _Not as much as there was for the others. Not only is your biology completely incomprehensible- there really wasn’t much more to optimise. Your immune system is already excellent, since you just melt anything that tries to infect you. You’ve managed to immunise yourself against the blob using mutations granted to you by the blob. Ironic.”_

“ **Sweet!”**

“ _Of course, most of your allies gained up to five times as much strength- yours has only doubled. Perhaps you’ll find yourself left behind in the dust, your mutations nothing but a hindrance.”_

Robin shrugged. “ **Then I’ll just grab one of those vanilla clones you have available. Easy.”**

Zimri shook her head. “Should you really be so- ready to dispose of your original body like that?”

“ **Why not?** ”

She still remembered those first few moments- the panic, being in a freshly printed body, realizing that she must have died- and having it be confirmed. Finding _herself_ face down in a pool of blood-!

“It’s- nothing.” She answered.

**

“Stellar Conflict?” Isaac asked.

Anri’s face curled up in disgust.“Ew. Of course you _old_ people would want to watch that. We’ve got like- half a dozen movies where the CG and practical effects _aren’t_ garbage.”

“ **You take that shit back.”** Robin snarled. “ **Or I swear to god, badass knight-lady or no-! The Stellar Wars trilogy is a fucking classic.”**

“Wasn’t it six movies?” Anri asked, a smirk on her face.

“ **No.”**

Zimri smiled, before turning from the bickering trio, to Serana. “Anything else you need help with?”

“Yes. Get these cables- over there. Plug the blue one into the red socket- don’t ask me _why_.”

She nodded.

The movie theatre- wasn’t a place she’d expected to be coming to in the apocalypse. Zimri hadn’t expected to be helping set up what looked like a museum piece so they could watch ‘the pinnacle of 21st Century Cinema’. Even Fluffy seemed to be paying rapt attention to the debate, supporting his mistress with the occasional bark.

“The Lady of the Necklace? Everyone’s seen that!” Anri complained.

Defender let out a low cough. “No?”

“You aren’t from our dimension, you don’t get a vote!”

_

They were halfway through the bit where a Wizard beat a Demon to death with a stick when they had to pause.

For the briefest of moments Zimri actually felt _annoyed_ when the movie stopped.

“Ah- excuse me.” Serena said, her face tinged pink, a cup of soda spilled on her hands.

“Nah, nah. All good. We can wait. This is for you extradimensional guys, after all.” Isaac answered. Serena nodded gratefully.

She came back in, her hands clean, a somewhat worried expression on her face. “There’s- a horde. Outside. Three juggernauts, grapplers, a Kevlar hulk- oh, and a few regulars.”

“Fuckin sweet.” Anri declared. “Hey, Daddy, you wanna come?” The Juggernaut let out a low, annoyed grumble. “What, really? Fine, watch your old-people movies, nerds. I’m gonna go kill zombies.”

She came back in around the beginning of the third movie, and promptly fell asleep in the back row, her skeletal dog curled in her lap.

_

It had been- a surprisingly good time. Sure, watching movies like this didn’t compare to living them in VR- but the community element, doing it with friends- Zimri had to admit there wasn’t much quite like it.

It had been a fairly good trilogy. Maybe she could write movie reviews? Hm. That could be fun.

_

“REPORT TO THE PERSISTENCE FOR TRANSPORT OFF-WORLD.” The voice was harsh, male, and synthetic.

“ _What Melchior means to say.”_ Iris explained. “ _Is that we are currently capable of re-doing the jump which brought us here, hopefully going home, taking you meatsacks with us.”_

That- did put a damper on dinner.

“ _Melchior is unable to predict exactly where we will end up, and since we don’t want to open the doors to the nasties infesting this planet, we’ll be stuck there for at least a year. Of course, wherever we end up, it must be better than this shithole.”_

Isaac scratched the back of his head. “She isn’t wrong. I dunno, I’m not against abandoning Earth, honestly. It’s not like we’re doing anyone any _good_ by staying.”

Robin shrugged. “ **I don’t have any long-term goals here. Writing, sharing my work- I don’t need to be here to do that. I’m open to the idea.”**

 **“** Hey, what about my minions?” Anri protested, her Lupine ears flattening. “I ain’t giving up Fluffy or Ramirez!”

“ _They’re made up of Dead blob matter, animated by your magic. They probably don’t carry the infection. They can come.”_ Iris answered.

“BLOB? UNECESSARY RISK. PURGE IT.” Droned Melchior.

“ _Shut it, Melchie.”_

“Huh, sounds good.” Anri relaxed. “Same then, I’m open to learning more.”

Defender tilted her head. “When you say you aren’t sure where we’ll end up-“

Iris’ voice once again spoke. “ _There are two extradimensional beings in the crew. It’s a roll of the dice which dimension we end up in.”_

“So leaving me behind-“Defender’s eyes narrowed. “That would ensure you guys get home.”

Zimri didn’t bother deigning that with a response. “Right- any questions?”

“Can we take the PCs?” Isaac asked.

“ _Fucking obviously.”_ Iris answered.

“Sweet.”

_

“Do you not want to go home?” Zimri asked.

Defender’s grip on her pistol tightened- significantly. “Of _course_ I do. I left behind family. _Living_ family. You think I don’t want to see them again? That doesn’t change the fact that leaving me behind is the best course of action for you-“

“Are you daft?” Zimri snarled. “You’re part of the crew. Don’t act like we’d _do_ something like that. It’s an insult. We aren’t leaving you behind.”

“Why?” Defender asked. “Aren’t we going to be leaving behind everyone still alive on Earth by doing this?”

Zimri shook her head- but it was Iris who answered, through her speakers. “ _Technically. However, there are barely any people left alive on the planet. Scans we’ve done since we arrived haven’t found- any other groups of survivors. Several countries have already been engulfed entirely by forests or fungi-“_

“But the Fungoids aren’t spreading anymore-“

“ _The halted spread is likely a sign of them preparing something. The Fungal Cities your group described earlier have been fortified, and drones have detected significant build-up within them.”_

“-Shit.”

Zimri finally managed to speak. “Nobody can afford to care about everybody. Is it- possible, there are more people, out there? Yes. Do I have a moral obligation to help them? Maybe. But-“She shook her head. “Where does it end? There’s always _somebody_ suffering. I- can’t care about everyone. Nobody can care about everyone. I care for you guys. What’s so hard to understand?”

Defender stared at her.   
“Zimri, we’ve known each other for a _month._ ”

She flinched. Defender’s gaze shifted- an unreadable expression-  
Zimri felt an arm on her shoulder. “Hey.” Defender whispered. “Nobody’s leaving. We’re here for you. Relax.”

_

“Damn, you’ve been holding out on us!” Isaac’s expression on getting to finally board the Persistence was- awestruck. “This is some proper Star Trek shit!”

Zimri remained quiet- Serana was taking the job of getting everyone on board. Zimri- appreciated not having to talk much, right now.

“You can set up a room wherever- the macro-assembler will make sure it’s not in the way.” Serena explained “Make sure to refer to the map when moving about though- we aren’t completely done refurbishing.”

“Sweet.”

“ **What about the books, though?”** Robin asked. Serena frowned. “We- don’t really have the space for a physical library- but.” She chewed on her lip. “Leave them in your room for now, if we start to run low on storage, well, we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it-“

“So how we loading the Deathmobile?” Isaac asked. Serena shot him an exasperated glare.   
  
“Why, exactly.” She asked, through gritted teeth, “Do we _need_ that hunk of junk?”

“Hey, never know when you need a tank. Besides, you have any idea how much _time_ it took to make that thing?

Defender let out a snort. “Yeah, those idiots love that hunk of junk. Pretty sure they’d choose getting shot over allow it to get scratched.”

“ **It’s not like being shot is permanent, though.”** Robin pointed out. “ **Not anymore.”**

“Neither is losing the Deathmobile.” Defender let out an impressed whistle as the fabricator assembled a ration packet. “Would’ve been great having these back home....”

_

“Thanks, Zimri!”

Zimri nodded, still a tad confused. While she was happy to help- she still wasn’t sure _why_ Anri needed- all this. “Does Fluffy even need food?” She asked, as the two set down the boxes of dog food, right next to the barrels of Zombie blood Bone-Daddy had brought in.

The Skeletal Dog perked up on hearing its name being called, its head bobbing in what could be charitably described as a panting manner. It cheerfully gnawed, softly, on Anri’s fluffy tail.

“Eh. Maybe?” Anri shrugged. “He seems to like it when I give it to him. Here boy- Fluffy, that’s your bed!” Anri had taken great pains to set up the nice, cushioned box, easily accessible for the dog. Zimri was completely certain Fluffy would never use it. She’d seen how the thing snuggled up to its master at night.

“So, Zimri.”

“Yes?”

“You wanna learn to fight?”

Zimri was- confused. “What brought this on?”

Anri shrugged as her tail idly thwacked Fluffy on the head. “Oh- you’re really good in a fight, don’t get me wrong. You’ve really mastered using teleports and smacking things with your harvester- but that’s more of a tool than a weapon. Imagine how much deadlier you’d be with an actual weapon-“

“Hey.” Zimri protested. “I know how to use a Riot Baton.”

“Wait, really? Never seen you use it.”

It came to her with a thought, the weapon expanding with a click, its tip promptly crackling. Ramirez eyed it warily. “It just- never seemed necessary.”

“Woah.” Anri’s eyes were fixed upon the electric tip. “Why didn’t you hit us up with some of those?”

Zimri raised an eyebrow. “Would you really trade your Halberd for one of these? Do you think Robin would trade his Zweihander?”

“Not a fucking chance.”

“Precisely.” Which really just left her free to ask- “Why do you do the whole… knight thing?”

“Sorry?” Anri seemed a tad perplexed.

“You know.” Zimri gave Anri’s armor a pointed glance. “Wearing full plate, fighting things with a halberd instead of guns, only using ‘fun’ grenades.” After a moment’s thought, she continued- “Even Robin uses guns when necessary.” Mostly when he came across a turret without Isaac by his side- which was… rare.

“Well…” Anri shrugged. “Y’know. It’s the apocalypse.”

“I don’t follow.”

Anri let out a sigh- before sitting on one of the room’s chairs. “I- told you this before. I had a sheltered upbringing, yeah?” Zimri nodded her head. “Well, that was understating it a bit. My dad was- really rich. Rich enough to let his darling daughter have a martial instructor and play at being a knight.” Anri smiled, sadly. “Was really into working out. Dad even helped me learn blacksmithing. Heh. Couldn’t tell you the Capital of New Zealand, but need a helmet? I’m your girl.”

She leaned back in her seat, her voice growing wistful. “Always dreamed of being one of those- noble knights. Saving people with sword and sorcery. Couldn’t save my dad though. Old asshole tried to eat me.” Anri giggled.

This was- a lot more than what Zimri had expected. “It’s- okay if you don’t want to talk about it.”

“It’s been four years, Zim. It’s not like I chopped him up yesterday. Anyway, there I was- nineteen, my dad was dead, my dog was dead, my fucking instructor was dead, the nice, cushy future I had lined up for me was _gone-_ “She took a deep breath. “So I decided- ‘hey, it’s the end of the world.’ M-might as well have some fun, go out with a bang, right? But-“ She chuckled. “Guess I didn’t really m-manage the whole dying bit, huh?”

“I-I’m sorry… I didn’t want you to relive that-!” Zimri said, hurriedly. She- she didn’t like hearing this. It was- terrible. To imagine somebody so young having to _deal_ with something like that, to _fail_ to deal with it and just resort to going with the flow, aimless, no longer willing to put in an effort-

She hated it. She hated it because it reminded her of herself.

“I-it’s fine.” Anri choked out. “I-“ She looked down, covering her face with an arm. “I guess I’m not… as over it as I thought.” Her dog nuzzled her feet, and she leaned down, stiffly stroking its skull.

Zimri- she wasn’t an expert at this. Comforting others- _helping_ others- all she’d ever been able to offer was some extra muscle.

But she knew what had helped her when she’d been like this.

She stayed there, for a while, beside her friend.

_

“ _You performed most admirably, Miss Eder.”_

Zimri froze. “Iris? You- of course you saw that.” She shook her head. “What is it?”

“ _You did well. Caia was right. You are a stabilizing influence. Please continue in your current course of action. The wellbeing of the Crew is amongst my primary concerns- and as of today, your friends are crew.”_

Zimri- didn’t have a response to that. She shook her head, and marched on.

**

There was still plenty of work to be done. Zimri managed to put a smile on her face- and when she passed Anri, she was met by the same cocky smirk as always- albeit a tad softer, this time.

Time passed- quickly. With six people all working together- that was no surprise. The Research Deck- always a mix of lounge and lab, now hosted a proper multi-media centre, with TVs, Computers, and a projector.

The Comms deck- now somewhat useless for actual inter-system communication, hosted a somewhat stunning number of books piled up that would be sorted ‘eventually’. The Crew Quarters-

Everyone had a room. She wasn’t interested in thinking who had replaced whom.

“-is _this?”_

Zimri shook her head. Isaac looked at her expectantly. “Sorry.” Zimri replied. “What was that?”

“What is this place?” Isaac asked. “It’s- _weird._ Those are rocks!”

Oh, Right. They didn’t put this in the book- she’d been surprised too when she found what seemed to be an entire cave system on board. “Mining. Serena knows more details- but we pick up Asteroids and mine them for starship fuel and stuff.”

“Uh- you don’t like, crack planets, right? Peel bits off them and mine those?”

“Well-not if they’re inhabited, or slated for colonisation-.”

“What’s this ship’s name, anyway? It isn’t the Ishimura, right? You haven’t ever come across space zombies, have you-“Isaac had a- colossal grin on his face.

“Isaac, this is the Persistence. I’ve- told you this.”

Isaac let out an exaggerated, relieved sigh. “Oh, thank fuck.”

She gave him a confused look as Isaac descended into a fit of giggles. Was- was he making fun of her?

_

This world was doomed. That much was clear. Staying- it wouldn’t put them in danger, no, but it was _pointless._ There was nothing here. What was the point of fighting for a dead rock?

They had their own desires leading them off world. Serena- she said she’d recovered- but there was no way she _didn’t_ want to go home. Defender had family she hoped to re-unite with. And-

“Isaac- are you having second thoughts?” The view of Earth they had from the Persistence wasn’t pretty. Entire countries were coated in fungus- it was. Visible. From _orbit._

He snorted. “Not a fucking chance. Earth died four years ago.”

“It’s still- home though, isn’t it?”

He snorted. “I had a home. Got firebombed in the first week. Now? Home’s wherever the big guy is.” He gave Robin, who was giving his laptop a _very_ angry look, a nod. “I don’t have any _loyalty_ to Earth. Never cared about stuff like- patriotism, or whatever. The planet is dead. My country is dead. I’ve lived the last four years on the move. How is this any different?”

She- couldn’t relate. Even when she’d gotten on the Persistence, she’d always known there was the possibility of _coming back_. But Melchior had denied that possibility for Isaac and Robin the moment it was brought up- too risky, too much of a chance of the Blob noticing. They would never return to this Earth.

How could somebody- not be attached? Not feel anything for the place they’d lived for all their life?

“ **Yeah, what he said.”** Robin grumbled. “ **Only thing to like about this planet is all the Zombies you can kill guilt-free… and even that got old quick. Had more fun sparring with Anri than I’ve had killing Zs for years.”** He shrugged. “ **Already taken everything that was worth a damn. Why stay?”**

_

There was a jerk, the entire ship shaking as the Stardrive powered up-

Before the Earth was gone, nothing left to see but Hyperspace.

Anri’s eyes narrowed. “Fuck. I think I forgot my toothbrush.”

_


End file.
